By Abdullah Yaqubi | Katsina Times
In Nimroz province, which is considered an important area along Afghanistan’s western borders, the number of drug users has long been high.
Due to economic weakness, unemployment, lack of government attention, and the easy availability of narcotics, many people—especially young men and fathers—have become addicted to drugs.
In this province, the high number of drug addicts has not only increased the economic problems of families but has also deprived children of their childhood and forced them into hard labor.
Children engaged in difficult labor in the province say that many children in Nimroz who work in harsh conditions either have fathers addicted to drugs or fathers who were killed in wars.
Fifteen-year-old Nabiullah, who works in a construction materials workshop in Zaranj city of Nimroz province, says he receives 5,000 Afghanis per month. He explains that his father is addicted to drugs, and besides earning bread for the family, he is also forced to earn money to satisfy his father’s addiction.
He adds:
My father is addicted to drugs. He has left nothing in the house; he has spent everything on drugs. I work in a factory that produces construction materials and they pay me 5,000 Afghanis. My other brother works with a doctor and earns 3,000 Afghanis. Every day when we return home, we buy 30 Afghanis’ worth of drugs for our father. If we don’t buy it, he throws us out of the house and says, ‘You are not my sons—leave.
At the same time, several other children in the province who are engaged in hard labor share similar experiences. They say that besides supporting their families, they also carry the responsibility of providing for their fathers’ addiction.
A 13-year-old child named Sayed Yasin says that there are four members in his family, including his parents. Because his mother is ill and his father is addicted, the responsibility of supporting the family and providing drugs for his father has fallen on his shoulders.
He says he works every day until evening and then returns home, bringing food as well as some cash to give his father for drugs.
He says:
My father is addicted. We are five members in the family, and my mother is also sick. I work every day until evening. Sometimes I clean car windows, sometimes I collect plastic. What matters to me is that I find food for the family and money for my father’s drugs. My mother always tells my father not to ask me for money, but he does not listen to her
Meanwhile, some civil society activists in Nimroz say that compared to other provinces, a large number of children in Nimroz are deprived of their basic rights.
One civil activist in the province, Ahmad Rashad Amani, says the current government and the international community should support the children of Nimroz.
He says:
Our children are deprived of their basic rights. They cannot go to school, they do not have proper food, and they spend the night not in sleep but in fear. The government must have clear and effective programs against drugs. These children are not only deprived of education and upbringing, but they also pose a serious threat to the future of society. If we do not support them today, tomorrow our society will become the victim of an addicted generation.
Yaqubi Writes for katsina times
From Afghanistan .
