Economic deprivation main cause of child jockeys

Poverty, lack of economic opportunity, illiteracy and unawareness about the child rights are the main reasons due to which families allow their children to be taken to the Gulf as child jockeys. According to a report prepared by Dr Sulayman Khalf on "Camel Racing in the Gulf," the district of Rahim Yar Khan in southern Punjab has been found to be the main source of supply of child jockeys.
It has been estimated that 15,000 children had been taken from the district to the UAE and Gulf States as camel jockeys.
This comprehensive account traces the status of the camel in Arab society and the emergence of the sport, as we know it today. It reflects on the historical role played by camels, both economically and for transportation in the deserts of Arabia.
It looked at how all this changed with the discovery of oil and a life style offering limitless luxuries and how this brought the camel to the brink of extinction within Arab culture.
In order to preserve this vanishing Arab heritage, UAE authorities promoted the sport of camel racing. Royal patronage and big stakes soon increased its popularity and a Camel Racing Association (CRA) was set up to regulate the game in the Emirates.
The rising stakes and heightened competition was also fuelling a search for lighter-weight jockeys and during the 1970s this began to involve children.
But it was till the late 1980s or early 1990s after some publicised child deaths on the racetrack that this trafficking became known.
In 1993 the UAE responded to international pressure and re-enforced the Federal Labour Code of 1980 banning the use of children in the sport.
The CRA amended their rules to prohibit children under 15 years old and weighing less than 35 kg from being camel jockeys.
However, this ban was not implemented fully and the practice continued unchecked.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNRC) explicitly prohibits exploitation of children and recognises their inherent need for special care, protection and upbringing within the family. Pakistan is signatory to this convention.
Working in collaboration with a Bahawalpur-based NGO, Pakistan Rural Workers Social Welfare Organisation, Save the Children studied the plight of these trafficked children and recommended the international commitment to implement existing legislation and stop cross-border trafficking.
It urged the Pakistani authorities to take legislative administrative and diplomatic measures to control trafficking inside the country and offer education and training, which could give real options to families trapped by poverty.
However, the return of over 100 child jockeys from UAE in the recent past and their rehabilitation in the Child Welfare Bureau established by the Punjab government shows the earnest desire of the Pakistani authorities to boldly tackle this issue.