MAKKAH: Makkah Police have thwarted a deal by the “father” of two young boys to make them work as camel-herders, said officials. A man who claimed to be the father tried to make the deal with a middleman to employ the two boys, who are about seven years of age. The plan was to transport them to a region in Makkah where they would work, sources said. Al-Mansour Police Station in Makkah opened an investigation into the incident and security authorities are holding the two men, said Lt. Col. Abdul Muhsin Al-Maiman, spokesman for Makkah Police. Preliminary investigations indicate that an African man who claimed to be the father of the boys had signed a contract with two men for the boys to work. Al-Maiman said the deal was a case of illegal work, human trafficking, and that the contract was signed under duress. He added that investigations by Al-Mansour Police Station showed that the two boys were not included on their alleged father's residence permit; they were on the permit of their maternal uncle, who was also summoned for questioning.
