Camel jockeys return to BD

Published August 12, 2005

DHAKA, Aug 11: As many as 35 Bangladeshi children used as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates returned home on Thursday, ending an uncertain future and unspeakable ordeals. The children looked dazed and lost after they arrived at Zia International Airport.

Ghassan Khalil, chief of Unicef’s Child Protection Section, said there were at least 200 more Bangladeshi children waiting to be repatriated. However, not all the 35 children in question were trafficked out of Bangladesh. Some of them were born in the oil-rich country while some were trafficked and others were sent or accompanied by their parents or relatives. The children and their parents narrated the ordeals they had undergone in the UAE.

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