The government on Tuesday admitted its inability in bringing back Pakistani children being used as camel jockeys and stranded in the Gulf states, but played down their number by putting the figure at only 1,000 as against 7,000 reported a few days ago.
At a Senate Standing Committee on Labour and Manpower meeting here, Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) said that it could be able to bring back only 200 out of thousands of children from the Gulf states ever since the matter was brought in the spotlight by media reports a year back.
Presided over by its Chairman Senator Naeem Hussain Chattha, the meeting was sceptical of the government's sincerity in its efforts for repatriation of these camel jockeys, a member told Business Recorder.
The members of the committee condemned the practice of using children as camel jockeys and called upon the OPF to take appropriate steps for early repatriation of the children stranded in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf countries. The meeting doubted the OPF claim that only 1,000 Pakistani children were currently stranded in various Gulf states and being used as camel jockeys.
A few days ago, it was reported that out of the total of 10,000 children being used as camel jockeys in the Gulf states, 7,000 were Pakistanis. At that time the OPF officials had also confirmed the figure.
Minister of State for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis informed the meeting that the OPF was making all-out efforts to bring these children back.
But, he said, many people from some remote areas of Pakistan were sending their children to the Gulf region wilfully and the same often spoiled the initiatives being taken by the government to stop the practice.
Pakistan has in the recent past been in the spotlight in the wake of highest number of children being smuggled to the Gulf states for being used as camel jockeys.
The committee members were also unhappy with the facilities the OPF was providing to overseas Pakistanis, a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb told Business Recorder.
The committee called upon the OPF to provide education and healthcare facilities to overseas Pakistanis in the areas where they were in huge number.
Meanwhile, Senate Standing Committee on Communication also met here with Senator Kamil Ali Agha in the chair and asked the concerned authorities to ensure safety and security for road travellers.