A woman fights to save her daughter in a vast settlement displaced by drought and war in Afghanistan.
Reflexes
- Gul’s husband said: “He had to sacrifice one to save the lives of the rest.”
- Desperate for money, Afghans are making many such decisions that show signs of a difficult situation.
- Gul says that if his daughter is taken from him, he will commit suicide.
Shedai Camp (Afghanistan): A woman fights to save her daughter in a vast settlement displaced by drought and war in Afghanistan. Aziz Gul’s husband sold their 10-year-old daughter in marriage without informing her so that she could support her five children with the money received in exchange. Gul’s husband said: “He had to sacrifice one to save the lives of the rest.” The number of homeless people in Afghanistan is increasing. These people, who are obsessed with money, are making many decisions that indicate the difficult situation in the country.
Afghanistan was captured by the Taliban in August
Afghanistan’s aid-dependent economy was already in shambles. Meanwhile, the Taliban seized power in mid-August amid the withdrawal of US and NATO troops. The international community confiscated Afghanistan’s assets abroad and withheld financial aid. The consequences for a country ravaged by war, drought and the coronavirus pandemic have been disastrous. The employees have not received wages for months. Malnutrition is the most worrisome and aid organizations say that more than half the population is facing a food crisis.
The marriage of very young girls is common in the area.
Asunth Charles, national director of the aid organization “World Vision” in Afghanistan, said: “The situation in this country worsens day by day, especially children are the most affected.” Charles runs health clinics for displaced people near the western city of Herat. He said: “Today it saddens me very much to see that many families are obsessed with food grains and are willing to sell their children also to feed other family members.” The marriage of very young girls is common in this region.
Many people are also trying to sell their children.
The groom’s family pays money to the girl’s family in exchange for the deal, and the girl usually lives with her parents until she is 15 years old. Many people are also trying to sell their children. In this patriarchal male-dominated society, Gul opposes the sale of his daughter. Gul herself got married at 15 and now she doesn’t want this injustice to happen to her daughter Kandi Gul. Gul says that if his daughter is taken from him, he will commit suicide.
Taliban government bans forced marriages
Gul’s husband told her that he had sold Kandi to which he told her husband: “It was much better to die than to do this.” Gul reunited her brother and the village elders and, with their help, secured a ‘divorce’ for Kandi on the condition that she pay 100,000 Afghanis (approximately 75 lakhs) to her husband, who did not have one. Gul’s husband has eloped since the incident. The Taliban government has recently banned forced marriages.
‘Sometimes I think I should kill myself’
Gul said: ‘I am very disappointed. Sometimes the idea comes to me that if I can’t give money to pay these people and keep my daughter with me, then I commit suicide, but then I think of other children who, after I leave, what will happen to them? Who will feed them? His eldest daughter is 12 years old, his youngest and sixth daughter is only 2 months old. In another part of the camp, Hamid Abdullah, a father of four, was also selling his underage daughters into marriage because he had no money to pay for the treatment of his ailing wife, who will soon give birth to a fifth child.
‘I felt like someone took a part of my body’
Abdullah said he was unable to repay the loan money for his wife’s treatment. 3 years ago he received money for the marriage of his eldest daughter Hoshran, who is now 7 years old. The family that bought Hoshran is waiting for it to grow before paying the full amount and taking it. But Abdullah now needs money, so he is trying to marry off his second daughter, 6-year-old Nazia, for around 20,000-30,000 Afghanis ($ 200-300). Abdullah’s wife, Bibi Jaan, said she had no other choice, but that it was a difficult decision. She said: ‘When we made this decision, it was as if someone had taken a part of my body from me.’
‘No mother can do this to her child’
Another displaced family in neighboring Badghis province is considering selling their 8-year-old son Salahuddin. His mother Gulab (35) said: ‘I don’t want to sell my son, but I have to. No mother can do this to her child, but when you have no other choice, you must make a decision against your will. ‘ According to the United Nations, millions of people in Afghanistan face starvation. 32 lakh of children under 5 years old face acute malnutrition. World Vision’s national director for Afghanistan, Charles, said the humanitarian aid fund was desperately needed. (Idiom)
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