DOHA, Sept 8: Qatar is drafting a bill that would ban hiring people under 18 as jockeys for camel races in a bid to curb the trafficking of children for the widely popular sport, an official said on Wednesday.

The legislation should be ready next April, Ghalia bint Mohammad al-Thani, who chairs the child committee in the Higher Family Council headed by the Qatari wife's Amir, told reporters.

"We are working for a law that would ban the use of anyone under the age of 18 in a camel race in Qatar. The law will stipulate clear penalties for violators," said Ghalia bint Mohammad, who also heads a committee entrusted with combating labour trafficking.

The president of Qatar's organizing committee of camel races, a favourite sport in the Gulf which has faced widespread criticism over the use of young children from the Subcontinent, said last March that Qatar had for the first time used robots as jockeys.

The Gulf Arab monarchies are trying to bring order to the national sport in the face of protests over the trafficking of children as jockeys. The children, mostly from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, are smuggled into the Gulf states.

They are often starved by employers to keep them light and maximize their racing potential. Mounting camels three times their height, the children - some as young as six - face the risk of being thrown off or trampled. Expatriates form a majority of Qatar's population of 650,000, of which only about 150,000 are nationals. -AFP