KARACHI, May 22: Two young camel jockeys — or camel kids — who returned from the United Arab Emirates were received by the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) officials here on Thursday.

The names of the camel kids, who are brothers, are Naeemullah (nine years of age) and Nadeemullah (eight years old). The children were handed over to Salim Beg of the Edhi Foundation, where they would be kept until their parents are traced.

Talking to Dawn at the OPF office, the children said their father, a farmer named Ali Gul, had died a few years back.

They had gone to UAE two years ago and had been riding camels in various races. They were given prizes of Dirhams 10 or 20 when they won the races, and were severely beaten by their Sheikh when they lost.

The boys said: “Initially we used to get scared when the camels ran. During the training period when we were learning how to ride the camels in the races, we fell frequently and sometimes got injured”.

“They said that there were many other children living in the camel yard of the Sheikh.

“We were given a small quantity of Daal and bread to eat. The camel yard was away in a remote area. There was no electricity there. The room in which we and other children lived had a tin roof which used to get very hot during the day, particularly in summer.”

Human traffickers have now resorted to another method. They take children along with their mothers or some other women relatives.

The women return after living with the children for sometime. The women are usually caught at the airport when they return by the Immigration staff, but after reaching at some understanding they are let go.

Responding to Dawn queries, OPF official Mushtaq Ahmad said that Naeemullah and Nadeemullah had gone to the UAE along with their mother Sabran Bibi in 1999.

Sabran Bibi and her children had accompanied a relative Ghulam Sarwar, who first took them to Iran, and from there they went to UAE.

Sabran bibi, after living with the children for a few weeks there, returned to Pakistan, while Ghulam Sarwar lived in UAE and worked there. He used to collect the salary, Dirhams 500 per month for each boy, from the Sheikh.

The address of Sabran Bibi in her passport (NO G 093842 issued at Sukkur on March 15, 1999) is Kajlo Khan Goth, Taluka Kandhkot, Jacobabad district.

Sabran Bibi had come to OPF office to get her children but was asked by the officials to bring a documentary proof that they were her children.