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Dubai: A UAE delegation will visit former child camel jockeys in Mauritania to check on the children's progress.
The UAE repatriated all child camel jockeys after the practice was banned in 2005. Robots are now used in camel racing.
A Unicef-led initiative resettled at least 1,100 former camel jockeys in the UAE. Most of the repatriated children were from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania.
Ghassan Khalil, chief of Unicef's Child Protection Unit, commended the UAE government "for its continued effort in making sure that that children are receiving appropriate care and support back in their home countries."
"It is a mutual effort between the UAE and source country governments to stop exploitation of children and provide them with a better life," he said.
Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Interior, arranged the visit, which will be led by Brigadier Nasser Al Awadhi Yahya Al Minhali, Head of the Special Committee on Former Camel Jockeys.
The visit follows a UAE Ministry of Interior trip to Pakistan, where payment was given to the Pakistani government for direct compensation to former camel jockeys.
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