MUZAFFARGARH, Aug 11: Muzaffargarh is on top among Punjab districts in terms of children’s smuggling as 149 children have been smuggled from here to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the last five years to serve there as camel jockeys, Child Protection Bureau Director Ali Raza told Dawn here on Saturday.

Raza, who had come here from Lahore to attend a workshop, said that all these children had been brought back and 100 of them had been sent to their parents. He said that 49 children were in a rescue centre in Multan because no one had come to receive them and they did not know their families or addresses.

He said that these children did not only serve in the UAE as camel jockeys but also as beggars. He said that six agents had been arrested for smuggling children to the Emirates.

Executive District Officer (EDO) for Community Development Malik Khair Muhammad Budh said these children were kidnapped from Hamzawali of Jatoi tehsil, Muzaffargarh city and Kotaddu. He said that another 31 children had been smuggled to UAE from Multan, 70 from Rahim Yar Khan and 26 from Dera Ghazi Khan.

He said that a rehabilitation centre and a school were being set up in Muzaffargarh to make these children active members of society. He said the arrested agents were being tried in a Multan court.