Former camel jockeys compensated by UAE

Asian children sold into slavery as camel jockeys have been paid compensation by the United Arab Emirates for the abuse and injuries they suffered.

Officials travelled to Bangladesh where they made payments to 879 former child camel jockeys, many of whom are now adults but still suffer from injuries acquired when they were forced to race.

For years thousands of children from Pakistan and Bangladesh, some as young as three, were sold by poor families to human traffickers, who passed them on to camel racers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the sport is very popular. The owners preferred young children as jockeys because they believed their screams made the camels run faster.



According to children's rights campaigners, many of the boys fell while racing at high speeds and suffered serious injuries and even permanent disabilities. Some were trampled to death by other camels after falling off their mounts.

Under international pressure, the UAE banned children under 16 from camel racing in 2005 and since then has been working to help to repatriate and rehabilitate the victims. More than 1,100 children have been returned to Bangladesh since the ban came into force.

Christine Jaulnes, a spokesman for Unicef Bangladesh, which has been involved in the rehabilitation work, welcomed the development. "In one of the cases I know a child lost his sight when he fell from a camel, so we welcome this. The UAE government is now really trying to get over past problems and the situation has now improved."