Parents fail to claim freed Pak camel jockeys
AFP, Lahore
They have finally returned home from a brutal life in the United Arab Emirates, but 22 Pakistani children who worked as camel jockeys have still not been claimed by their parents. The youngsters aged between six and 17 who flew into the eastern city of Lahore Tuesday were the first to be repatriated under an agreement between the United Nations Children's fund Unicef and the governments of Pakistan and the Gulf sheikhdom. However, there were no family members there to welcome the children after their absences of two to seven years, and a Pakistani court had no choice but to order Wednesday that they be kept in a protection centre. "None of the parents or guardians approached us to get their kids back," the centre's manager Shazia Ijaz said as the children sat in the city's Child Protection Court and stared the judge.
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