In-depth interviews with former camel jockeys, who returned home on August 11 and August 23, and their 'guardians' showed most of the women claimed to be the children's mothers are fake, a source told The Daily Star.

The jockeys and their so-called guardians are now taking shelter at Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) home in the city.

As many as 65 children were brought back home and about 150 are now at three homes in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government has identified the 150 and would send them back under an agreement signed with the Unicef in May to ban the use of children under 16 and weighing less than 45kg as camel jockeys.

The United Nations Children Fund (Unicef), which is assisting in repatriation and rehabilitation of the jockeys, has found some of these children were trafficked and others sent to earn money for their families living in the UAE or Bangladesh.

Interviews with the 'guardians', who accompanied the children on August 11, also revealed most of the children were trafficked or illegally migrated. However, most of the women said in their passports they were the mothers of the children.

"An unholy nexus of the recruiting and travel agencies is involved in the process," an official of the BNWLA said.

Since August 11, every day at least 15 to 20 people visited the BNWLA office to see if their children have arrived. However, no-one brought with them documents of GDs (general diaries) they should have filed for their missing children, a BNWLA official said.

"It is possible that they claim to be the children's guardians, knowing monetary involvement in the reintegration process," the official said asking not to be named.

"We didn't hand over any children because we have to be sure they are not fake parents," Mominul Islam, an investigation officer of the BNWLA, said. Mominul is also a member of a three-member delegation that went to the UAE for identifying Bangladeshi children.

The legal procedures in identifying the real parents and reintegrating them will pose legal problems, he said.

A guardian claimed she has two children -- one from Sylhet and the other from Habiganj, he said. "In cases like these we are going through troubled waters," he insisted.

Citing another example, he said a mother in her passport claimed she has two sons, who were later identified as her stepdaughter's children.

There will be more critical cases like this among the 200 children identified as Bangladeshis, he added.

He said, "It is quite difficult to find out the real parents, and it is even more difficult to identify who would be the perfect guardians for proper reintegration and rehabilitation of the children."

Additional Secretary of Home Ministry Abdur Rouf said as soon as primary information of the children is provided, the ministry will convey it to the thana nirbahi officers (TNOs).

"Under the TNOs, the Union Parishad chairmen and the officers-in-charge will verify their addresses, parents and other related information," he noted.

A team comprising officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, home, Unicef, BNWLA, IOM (International Organisation for Migration) will monitor the reintegration process, he told The Daily Star.

"Unless the monitoring team is convinced the parents are genuine and child rights will be ensured, no children will be handed over," BNWLA Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali said.