Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The food crisis in Afghanistan is getting worse. Especially for children, they can not only starve to death but are also threatened with being “sold” by their families to meet their food needs.
Parwana Malik, 9 years old, was forced to marry Qorban, a 55 year old man. This has happened since October 24 last.
As a child bride, Parwana was given a ‘dowry’ of 200,000 Afghans (about US$ 2,200 or Rp 31.3 million, assuming Rp 14,200/US$). It’s not just money, the dowry is in the form of sheep, land, and cash.
Parwana said Qorban was “an old man” with white eyebrows and a thick white beard. He was worried that Qorban would beat him and force him to work at his house.
“This is your bride. Please take care of her, you are responsible for her now, please don’t hit her,” wrote CNN International when Parwana Abdul Malik’s father gave it to Qorban.
Abdul Malik, said he couldn’t sleep at night. Ahead of the sale, he said he felt “devastated” with guilt, shame and worry.
But they have no other choice if they still want to feed their family. Malik had already traveled to the provincial capital of Qala-e-Naw in search of unsuccessful work.
He even borrowed a lot of money from relatives. His wife was forced to beg other camp residents for food.
“We are eight family members. I had to sell to keep the rest of the family alive,” he said, adding the money from Parwana’s sale would only support the family for a few months, before Malik had to find other solutions.
A similar fate befell Magul, 10, in the neighboring province of Ghor. She cries every day leading up to the day she will be given to a 70 year old man to pay off his family’s debt.
His parents had borrowed 200,000 Afghans (US$ 2,200) from neighbors in their village. But without a job or savings, they have no way of getting the money back.
The borrower dragged Magul’s father, Ibrahim, to Taliba prison. Ibrahim promised the buyer that he would pay in a month. But now the time is up.
“I don’t know what to do. Even if I don’t give her my daughter, she will take it,” Ibrahim said.
This crisis was actually predictable. The United Nations has warned the destabilized country will face one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“This winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between migration and hunger unless we can increase our life-saving assistance,” said World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley. AFP last October.
The food crisis in Afghanistan is even said to be on a larger scale than the one facing Yemen or Syria. The situation is also worse than the food insecurity emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to a statement issued by the WFP and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one in two Afghans is facing a Phase 3 “crisis” or a Phase 4 “emergency” of food shortages. Phase 4 is one step below famine and Afghanistan is expected to face its worst winter in a decade.
The food crisis came after the Taliban toppled the Afghan government in August. The group then created an interim government and vowed to restore stability to the country.
But the Taliban still faces a series of international sanctions and a bloody campaign of attacks by the Daesh terrorist group. Meanwhile, climate change makes droughts in Afghanistan more frequent and intense.
In the west of the country, thousands of poor families have sold their livestock and fled. They seek shelter and assistance in overcrowded makeshift camps near major cities.
“We are trying to get our people out of the current situation and help them. Global humanitarian aid has also arrived,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
UN agencies warn that their humanitarian response plans are only a third as funded as they are now. FAO is seeking $11.4 million in urgent funding and a further $200 million for the agricultural season through 2022.
(tfa/sef)
– .
