29 children receive compensation–UN

from The Manila Times

DHAKA: A group of Bangladeshi children who worked as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates will get more than $50,000 in compensation from the Gulf state, an official said Thursday.

The 29 children were among 200 repatriated three years ago when the UAE signed an agreement with the UN children’s fund Unicef to outlaw the practice of children riding in camel races.

The UAE banned child jockeys in 1993 although abuses remained widespread until the 2005 agreement.

Magistrate Abul Bashar Mohammad Amiruddin told Agence France-Presse the children were from the Gazipur district, near the capital Dhaka, and a UAE representative had visited this week to announce the compensation package.

“The UAE official said the 29 children, who were aged between five and 18 when they came back to Bangladesh, will get between $1,200 and $3,000 each and the total will be $52,700,” Amiruddin said.

Some of the children were trafficked from Bangladesh, others were sent there to earn money for their families back home and others were used as underage jockeys to earn money for families living in the UAE.

Poverty and lack of jobs in Bangladesh, where 40 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, drives millions abroad each year to send money back to their families.

Poor parents are vulnerable to traffickers who prey on their desperation by making false promises of good jobs abroad for their children.

– AFP