Afghanistan has been suffering from a severe food crisis since the Taliban took back control and in order to combat the situation, some citizens have come up with disturbing and sometimes even dangerous measures. BCC reported that many Afghan families are sedating their children so that they cannot feel hungry and some have even sold their organs and daughters to survive amid the ongoing crisis.
The accession of the new Taliban government was followed by a massive economic crisis and although the foreign aid did help to cope with the multiple earthquakes, it was not enough to improve the situation.
The United Nations have called the situation in Afghanistan a “humanitarian catastrophe” and according to BBC, there is a huge number of people in the country at present who do not even earn $1 a day.
The global community has been extremely critical of the harsh regulations that the Taliban has imposed on women and without foreign funds, the economy has seen a collapse unlike any in the nation’s history. As a result, despite knowing its side effects, sedatives have become popular in several areas.
“Our children keep crying, and they don’t sleep. We have no food,” Abdul Wahab told BBC.
“So we go to the pharmacy, get tablets and give them to our children so that they feel drowsy.”
The illegal organ trade has already gained popularity with people looking to make quick money. A source told BBC that he was paid 270,000 Afghanis ($3,100) for one of his kidneys around three months ago.
“If we eat one night, we don’t the next. After selling my kidney, I feel like I’m half a person. I feel hopeless. If life continues like this, I feel I might die,” he said in the report.
