By Mohammad and Ahmad
Islam Bibi has put up her six-year-old daughter Zargul* for sale.
The 41-year-old mother of four took out loans six months ago after her husband was severely injured in a car accident on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway. His legs were broken and his back was badly hurt.
Now the creditors have come knocking.
She said that this distressing decision is the only way to cover her husband’s medical expenses and ensure her family’s survival.
She owes about 500,000 Afghanis ($7100) in total.
“Lenders demand their money back, but we have nothing. I am under so much pressure that I have been forced to sell my young daughter,” she said.
No buyer has yet accepted the offer, so she’s unclear if her daughter will cover the loan. Islam Bibi fears that given the size of the debt, she may need to sell her other younger daughter as well.
A lifetime of poverty
The family of six, with the eldest child only 12 years old, live in a rented house in district 6 of Jalalabad. The children’s clothes are tattered and worn. They experience deep hunger every day.
“My children sometimes go three or four days without food. We even don’t have floor to bake bread. I send my daughter to the streets in hopes that someone will take pity and give her something,” Islam Bibi said.
“Either I have to find something to eat or kill myself.”
She breaks down in tears while discussing her helplessness. She never attended school herself and has only ever worked in the home as a daughter and then as a wife.
Because of the poverty, Islam Bibi often sends Zargul to beg on the streets to help provide food instead of to school.
Zargul’s earnings for a day of begging are paltry compared to the family’s needs.
“Sometimes I earn 50 afghanis, sometimes 60 afghanis (less than one dollar), and with that, I buy something for my father and brothers. We are very poor. I ask people to help us,” Zargul said.
Islam Bibi said that she has repeatedly sought help from the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and the Department of Martyrs and Disabled in Nangarhar province. However, she has not received any assistance from them.
Fasihullah*, a source close to the family said other’s have tried to help them.
“We have helped them as much as we could, but they live in a very poor economic condition, and they need more assistance. What can a mother and these young children do? Eventually, they will be forced to either send the children out to beg or sell them,” Fasiullah said.
An increasingly common challenge for poor families
Last year, in a similar case, a man from the Dara Noor district of the province sold his one-year-old daughter for 15,000 afghanis (around $200).
Rukhshana Media sources reported that the man had been unemployed for a long time and was unable to find work for himself, ultimately leading him to secretly sell his daughter.
At the time, local Taliban officials in Nangarhar Province confirmed the incident, stating that the man is being monitored by the Taliban’s security forces in Dara Noor, with steps taken to locate the sold child and return her to her family.
These desperate circumstances are becoming more common with Afghanistan’s economy in a critical state and an extreme humanitarian crisis.
The country remains heavily dependent on humanitarian aid, and millions of Afghans are trapped in a cycle of poverty, homelessness, and despair.
World Bank reported that Afghanistan is facing multiple economic crises, including rising unemployment, severe inflation, and the collapse of financial systems.
The unemployment rate in Afghanistan has doubled in 2024, and millions of people are experiencing severe food insecurity. Nearly 12.4 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and this situation is expected to worsen.
Other reports from international organizations, including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), indicate that about 23.7 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance, with 52% of them being children.
Note*: Names are changed due to security reasons.
