“I drug my children so they can sleep” – Afghan families are starving “I drug my children so they can sleep” – Afghan families are starving

Winter is coming in Afghanistan – for the second time under the Taliban since they seized power in August 2021. The first winter was already difficult, the second is likely to be even more difficult. Afghans express their concerns on United Nations World Food Program (WFP) distribution sites:

Several figures confirm this fear: according to the WFP, 90 percent of the Afghan population currently does not have enough to eat. Meanwhile, a Red Cross children’s hospital in Kabul has treated 55 percent more children with pneumonia this year than in the same period last year.

The population struggles with cold, hunger, unemployment and, in essence, with a government that does not care about them.

Anti-hunger sedative tablets

The situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated dramatically since the Taliban came to power last year. According to a WFP report, nine in ten households already lacked access to food in August. More than half of the population has already had to take action to fight hunger. For example, according to the WFP report, 61.9 percent of adults reduced their food intake so that their children have enough to eat. Compared to last year, this figure has increased by 48.2 percent. But what if there is not enough food for the children?

The children are constantly crying and not sleeping, Abdul Wahab told BBC reporters this week. He therefore resorts to desperate measures:

Wahab lives in a small settlement of mud houses not far from Afghanistan’s third largest city, Herat. A place that has grown steadily over the last ten years. Driven by war and natural disasters, more and more people have moved to this village.

In addition to Abdul, about ten other people are in talks with the “BBC”. The reporters want to know how many of them drug their children. “All of us,” they admit. One of them takes a pack of pills out of his pocket. It’s the drug Alprazolam. A benzodiazepine drug commonly used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. The man says he has six children. The youngest is just one year old. He also gives him the pills.

At the local pharmacy you can get five tablets for 10 afghans, which is equivalent to 10 centimes. You can also buy bread on site for the same price. One is shared daily by several families.

High unemployment – great desperation

The Afghan population can hardly afford anything anymore, a large part no longer has a job. When the Taliban came to power last year, the flow of money was cut off overnight. Foreign currency reserves abroad were frozen, bank transfers halted and the unrecognized Taliban government imposed international sanctions. Unemployment in the country skyrocketed. But work is no guarantee of income. Those who sell goods often get stuck because no one can afford them.

Before the Taliban came to power, most men in Herat worked as day laborers, the BBC reports. Now they rarely find work. The situation will get worse in winter as many construction sites freeze over and work in the construction industry collapses. If the men find work, they will only earn 100 afghans (a little less than a franc) a day.

Pay off debts with kidneys and daughters

Even if you can barely earn money with work, the room for maneuver becomes small. Small. And the Afghan people often feel compelled to take drastic measures.

For example Ammar (name changed from the “BBC”). Three months ago he underwent surgery to have his kidney removed, he tells the BBC. The almost 23 cm long scar still looks fresh. The less than 30-year-old received the equivalent of 2,870 francs for the sale of his kidney. He had to pay off debts immediately with half the amount.

“BBC” also met a young mother who sold her kidney this year. You got the equivalent of 2550 francs for it. Also money she couldn’t keep. Her family had to use it to pay off debts they took on to buy a herd of sheep. However, they had already lost it a few years ago in a flood. And the debt has still not been paid. That is why she is now forced to sell her two-year-old daughter, says the woman. An act of sheer desperation. Her husband adds:

They are by no means the only ones who saw this measure as a last resort. Another man says he sold his four-year-old daughter to buy food. Little Nazia still lives with her family. Only when she reaches the age of 14 will she have to pay the price for this trade.

A politics of fear and oppression

The Taliban seem to have little empathy for their people. Their primary focus is still on enforcing strict Islamic rights. At the start of their takeover, they tried to respect women’s rights, at least to the outside world, but there is no trace of that anymore. Ten independent UN reporters also came to the conclusion on Friday that the human rights of women and girls are being increasingly blatantly violated.

In large parts of the country, girls’ schools are closed from group 7 onwards. Women in Kabul were recently banned from parks because park visitors allegedly violated gender segregation. According to media reports, women in the central province of Uruzgan are no longer allowed to buy SIM cards.

As the rapporteurs also reported, the sexes were increasingly being played off against each other. This is how men would be beaten if the women accompanying them wore brightly colored clothes or did not cover their faces. This forces boys and men to punish the girls and women.

The Taliban continue to take punishment very seriously as a separate task. According to official information, public floggings would have taken place last Wednesday for the first time since the takeover of power last year. And in no less place than in a football stadium. In the province of Logar in the east of the country, 14 people have been sentenced for, among other things, adultery, theft and corruption.

However, after a look at Twitter, the question is whether this was actually the first public flogging. Several videos are circulating showing women being flogged. The woman in the screenshot is accused of listening to music. A crime with draconian penalties under the Taliban government.

Unfortunately, these actions come as no surprise. Whipping, amputation and stoning were publicly performed during the first Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.

Besides all the cold, hunger and disease, the Afghans feel one thing above all: fear. Fear of this year’s winter. Fear of hunger and cold. And last but not least, fear of a regime that not only refuses to help them, but causes them even more suffering.

With material from the SDA news agency.