Updated on Monday, June 12, 2006, 00:00 IST

Dubai, June 12: More than a thousand child jockeys smuggled into the Emirates to race camels have been sent to their home countries, government officials here said.

The United Arab Emirates began enforcing a ban on child jockeys last year, after the US State Department cited the country as a top destination for smuggled children who were being pressed into camel riding. Some 20 smugglers have been prosecuted for trafficking in child jockeys.

"They are now a thing of the past, they no longer exist in the Emirates," Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Saif al-Shafar said of the child jockeys yesterday. "The UAE has helped 1,075 children from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Mauriania and Eritrea return home after undergoing a rehabilitaion program."

Since the campaign, riders in lucrative camel races here have to prove they are older than 18. The UAE, Qatar and other Gulf countries have also begun using small robots as jockeys, with camel owners using remote control to issue commands.

Lightweight robots allow more speed and stamina in the races, which are far longer and more endurance-based than horse racing, said Lt. Colonel Nasser al-Minhali, the chief government racing monitor.

This year, the US State Department's human rights report upgraded the Emirates status, citing the action on the child jockeys, which also won praise from UNICEF and the Pakistani government.

Bureau Report