A UN body said on Monday it would keep a close eye on efforts in the United Arab Emirates to rescue young boys forced to work as camel jockeys to ensure they did not simply get passed to other countries. Rights groups say several thousand boys, some as young as three, are used to race camels at speeds of up to 50kph (30 mph). The UAE has announced a clampdown on the use of child jockeys, many of whom come from poor African and Asian families.
But the children's fund UNICEF is concerned they could merely be handed to organisers of the lucrative sport in other Gulf Arab states, said June Kunugi, the fund's representative in the region.
UAE laws were tightened in March to stop the use of boys under 16 or weighing less than 45 kg (99 lb) after Western countries and rights groups slammed the practice as child slavery.
"We need to see they are not taken to other countries to use. The UAE has now said that if the ranch owners send them to other countries they will be banned (from racing)," Kunugi said.
"We will be approaching other countries to check there is monitoring so that this doesn't happen," she told Reuters, outlining a deal with the UAE to help find and repatriate boys.
The pro-Western UAE, wary of damage to its image as the Gulf's trade and tourism hub, has given ranch owners until the end of May to report details of who they employ.
London-based Anti-Slavery International said last year it had photographs to prove children were still racing camels, despite a 2002 ban. It called for prosecution of those trafficking and employing the boys.
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