Report to the 34th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

A supplementary report to Bangladesh’s second periodic report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each year, children as young as four are trafficked from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sudan for use as jockeys in the Persian Gulf States’ camel racing industry. Child camel jockeys are often sexually and physically abused; most are physically and mentally stunted, as they are deliberately starved to prevent weight gain. While official policies are in place requiring a minimum weight of 45 kg (100 lb) of the jockey, these restrictions are ignored by most in the racing industry. Hundreds of children have been rescued from camel farms and taken back to their original homes or kept in shelter homes.