Up till now about the return of hundred minor camel jockeys from Dubai shows how organized the child smuggling racket is. The under-12-year-olds had been in the UAE for over two to four years, and were rescued by the Pakistan embassy when their Arab patrons brought them over for passport renewals. The children belonged to the impoverished rural southern Punjab, where parents are known to sell minors because of utter poverty. The unfortunate children are 'bought' off by the middlemen running the camel-jockey racket and then 'sold' at a higher price to their principals in the UAE. Alternatively, parents are offered a monthly stipend to let their children be part of the dangerous sport. Although the authorities in the Gulf States have long banned the use of children as camel jockeys, they tend to turn a blind eye to the practice by the influential locals. Minor children are used as camel jockeys as part of the age-old Bedouin tradition in many Gulf states. The cruel practice was outlawed because it causes physical and mental damage to children who are tied to the back of the camel as the beast runs. The trauma makes the young jockeys shriek and cry which in turn makes the camel run faster and faster. Children are known to fall off the camel's back and get trampled under the running animals' hooves; many of those who survive are known to develop severe mental and psychological disabilities. Some of the rescued children just brought back home to their parents have provided clues as to the whereabouts of the people involved in the racket. It is time the government came down hard on these criminals, who must be tracked down and given exemplary punishment to deter the heinous crime. That said, there is also a dire need to address the wider problem of poverty in the rural hinterland, which forces some parents to sell their children for a paltry sum. [FACE Newsletter]