VZCZCXRO6299
RR RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHLH #0122/01 1740201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230201Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL LAHORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4075
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 4790
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2091
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 1772
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0816
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 5226

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAHORE 000122 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK
SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING STILL PREVELANT IN RAHIM YAR KHAN 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The southern district of Rahim Yar Khan has 
served as Pakistan's hub for children trafficked to the Gulf 
States to work as camel jockeys.  Since 2005, the Federal 
government has repatriated over 800 trafficked children from the 
United Arab Emirates.  According to UNICEF, the Government of 
UAE now provides monthly stipends for educational activities as 
well as funding for community development programs in the areas 
in Punjab affected by child trafficking.  End Summary. 
 
- - - 
Life as a Camel Jockey 
- - - 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 8, PO met trafficked children at the Pakistan 
Rural Workers Social Welfare Organization (PRWSWO) office in 
Rahim Yar Khan.  Former camel jockeys in the UAE, the 
repatriated children re-enacted their trafficking journey.  They 
depicted a father who sent his son away in exchange for money, 
the child's journey to UAE, and the torture he faced, such as 
forced dunkings in water and electrical shocks to maintain his 
weight below 15 kg.  The boy died at the end after falling from 
a wild camel. 
 
¶3. (SBU) There have been twelve reported death cases from Rahim 
Yar Khan, said Sabir Farhat, Secretary General of PRWSWO.  "The 
children face horrible living conditions," he said. "They fall 
off the camel, break bones and are put right back on the camel 
to train," he described. 
 
- - - 
Repatriation and Identification 
- - - 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Shamshad Qureshi, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, 
told poloff on May 18 he has estimated the number of Pakistani 
children trafficked to the UAE at 1,000.  "Initially we were 
told there are 5,000 children and then 3,000. No one is sure of 
the exact number but we designed our program to accommodate 
1,000 children," he related.  To date, 811 have returned to 
Pakistan, he 
noted: 751 from Punjab and over 300 from Rahim Yar Khan. 
Children as young as three years old are sold to the trafficking 
agents and can be separated from their families for up to seven 
years, Muhammad Farhan Aamir, District Officer from Punjab Child 
Protection & Welfare Bureau (CPWB) told poloff on May 8. 
Reuniting children who have little recollection of their parents 
or Pakistan poses a particular challenge, he noted.  Muhammad 
Farhan Aamir told poloff that seven children recently returned 
to Lahore but he questioned whether they had Pakistan 
nationality because they speak limited Urdu.  He confirmed with 
poloff on May 13 that three of these children have reunited with 
their families through DNA testing and CPWB has continued to 
take care of the other four in Lahore. 
 
- - - 
UAE Provides Rehabilitation Funds via UNICEF 
- - - 
 
¶5. (SBU) Muhammad Farhan Aamir told poloff on May 12 that the 
UAE provides limited compensation to formerly trafficked 
children via a government-to- government exchange.  Severe 
injury or death cases, said Farhan, can receive between 2-3,000 
dollars.  A trafficked child that was not injured will usually 
receive 1,000 dollars, he continued.  Designed for country-wide 
implementation, the program has only had an impact in Punjab, 
commented Farhan, because other provinces lack the 
infrastructure to support the repatriated children.  The second 
program, also funded by UAE, started after the 2005 agreement 
between the UAE and UNICEF.  The program provides a monthly 
stipend of Rs 600 (7.5 dollars) to the families of repatriated 
children for education, said Shamshad Qureshi of UNICEF. 
Continued enrollment in the endowment fund depends on an 80 
percent attendance rate, certified by school administrators, he 
detailed.  Upon turning 18, the children receive a lump sum of 
Rs 72,000 (900 dollars), Shamshad explained.  As part of this 
same program, UNICEF Punjab Chief, Deepak Bajracharya, told 
poloff on May 18, UNICEF has initiated health and education 
community development projects in six union councils in Rahim 
Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Rajanpur.  "Community-based initiatives 
funded by this program are used to attack the base problems that 
force parents to sell their children as camel jockeys," he 
clarified.  "We have seen positive results in these programs and 
are making a case to the government of UAE to extend these 
programs as they are scheduled to expire in December." 
 
- - - 
Poverty is the Root Cause 
- - - 
 
 
LAHORE 00000122  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) I.A. Rehman, Deputy Director of the Human Rights 
Commission of Pakistan, told poloff May 13 that repatriation 
entails just one part of the "camel kids" plight.  "Their 
parents sent them to be camel jockeys to make money. Now that 
they are back, what will they do?" he remarked.  "Parents do 
this to their children because they do not have another option. 
When the children return, there is no way to support them," he 
continued.  In Rahim Yar Khan, PRWSWO focuses on continuing 
education for children that have returned from UAE, said Sabir 
Farhat.  The organization has enrolled over 300 children in 
formal school, established non-formal education centers and 
provided job skills training.  "We try to give them skills that 
they can use anywhere and do not have to be working in the hot 
sun," he noted.  PRWSWO would like to establish a technical and 
vocational skills training center dedicated to trafficked 
children in Rahim Yar Khan to provide continuous psychological 
counseling and life skills training, he suggested. To prevent 
further trafficking, PRWSWO created 77 anti-trafficking 
committees to warn parents about the dangers of trafficking, 
Sabir Farhat reported.  Shamshad Qureshi of UNICEF told poloff 
on May 18 that the "community can play a strong role in ending 
trafficking," citing an incident where community members 
prevented a parent from selling his child to be trafficked. 
 
- - - 
Traffickers Unaffected 
- - - 
 
¶6. (SBU) Traffickers of children to UAE are still in the 
business of trafficking.  Some, said Muhammad Farhan Aamir, have 
connections with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) or local 
police.  Other countries still want children to race camels, 
poverty compels parents to send their children away and 
traffickers continue exploit children, he continued.  "It is the 
responsibility of the government and NGOs to stop this from 
happening," Farhan said told poloff on June 3. 
HUNT