Afghanistan:Starving families sell children

17 May 2008 - The article below was originally from Tolo TV news. It was translated by the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan, see http://rawa.org
Due to intense poverty in Afghanistan during the last few months, some families in different parts of the country have been forced to sell their children.
In an area in Kabul, called New Project of Khair Khana, a family sold two of their children to buy themselves food. This poor family, who live in a shabby house on a hill, was forced to sell its children because of hunger and poverty. The family has six small children and their father is the only bread winner.
The mother said that her children had been hungry for days. Their father had no other option and decided to sell their two- and four-year-old children, but because their mother cried a lot, the buyer returned the children. She said, “He said I will sell them to bring food for others. I said if we die, we all should die together. It is unacceptable that we sell them to other people and get our food.”
Their brother said: “My father went to sell my sisters and I cried a lot. My father was forced because we had no food.”
According to them, they had a house but it was destroyed by the government to make roads and they had not been given any other land in place of their old home. They are presently living in a rental house and they don’t even have money to buy water.
The children of the family are living under great pressure. They said that if their conditions continue, their father will be forced to sell the children. Until now, no organisation has helped this family.
Also published in Green Left Weekly issue #751 May 21 2008.