KARACHI: Rehabilitation centre for 340 camel jockeys inaugurated
KARACHI, April 26: The State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Senator Tariq Azeem, has said some 340 children smuggled to the UAE, Dubai and other Middle Eastern countries for camel races had been brought back to Pakistan, adding steps were being taken for their rehabilitation.
He said this to journalists after inaugurating the rehabilitation centre established by the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) for such children on Tuesday. The centre was inaugurated by noted social worker Begum Bilquees Edhi.
Senator Tariq said that according to an estimate, some 2,000 children were being engaged in camel races, many of whom were smuggled to the Middle East at the age of 4-5 years, or were deliberately sent by their parents.
He said most of the child trafficking cases belonged to Southern Punjab and Upper Sindh, adding that many children were either directly sold to camel race organizers by their parents, relatives, or ‘fake parents’, who took them to Middle Eastern states.
Mr Azeem said that children brought back were unable to identify their parents or families and neither did they know which area of Pakistan they belonged to.
He said DNA tests of the recovered children as well as their claimant parents were carried out for authentication of all such claims, adding that the same procedure was followed when such children were sent to the Edhi centre, to find out their parents. He hoped that better care would be taken of these children at the OPF rehabilitation centres.
Mr Azeem said that children brought back to Pakistan through the Pakistani Embassy were kept at Edhi homes after complete medical check-up. Proper arrangements for the education had been made there, he informed.
He said the government had taken a number of measures to stop the smuggling of children, while exit routes for such purpose had also been identified. He said the Interior Minister, Aftab Sherpao, had issued instructions in a meeting on March 17 for setting up more check posts on these routes.
Abdul Sattar Edhi was requested to inaugurate the centre, but could not make it because of other engagements, and sent Begum Bilquees Edhi instead, the state minister said.
A 10-year-old-boy, Sarfraz, who was recently brought to Pakistan, was also present at the ceremony.
He said he was smuggled to the UAE at the age of four where he was used in camel races many times. He said children kept there were given less food, and were used for hard labour when there were no camel races.
The Federal Manpower Secretary K.B. Rind, and Administrator Rehabilitation Centre Zarqa Yahya were also present.—APP/PPI
