TRAFFICKING STILL PREVELANT IN RAHIM YAR KHAN

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.

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Life as a Camel Jockey
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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.

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Repatriation and Identification
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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.

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UAE Provides Rehabilitation Funds via UNICEF
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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."

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Poverty is the Root Cause
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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.

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Traffickers Unaffected
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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