Parents fail to claim freed Pak camel jockeys

They finally returned home from a brutal life in the United Arab Emirates, but 22 Pakistani children who worked as camel jockeys there have still not been claimed by their parents. The youngsters aged between six and 17 who flew into Lahore on Tuesday were the first to be repatriated under an agreement between 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 on Wednesday that they be kept in a protection centre.

Judge Ahmed Nawaz Ranjha directed police to locate their parents and guardians and also asked welfare groups to help rehabilitate the children in their hometowns. —AFP