'Girl crushed to death by truck' and starving children forced to work each day

14 August 2023 , 23:01

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'The UK Government’s decision to more than halve its funding for the country this year is a tragic blow to their hopes and dreams,' Save the Children slammed (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Children in Afghanistan are facing death from starvation with more than three-quarters eating less than a year ago. The country, which fell to the Taliban two years ago today, faces soaring poverty and hunger since the militant group regained control.

Children are risking their lives by taking part in dangerous labour, with a third having been forced into work to help their families cope, a survey by Save the Children found. Staff from the charity reported that one girl was crushed to death by a truck as she was smuggling goods over a border crossing.

One mum, who can only afford to buy rice, told Save the Children her eight-month-old twins have been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition after her family in northern Afghanistan were badly hit by the drought and economic crisis. Sajida, 31, whose name has been changed, said: “We don’t have water in our village. We go to another village and use donkeys to bring water back here. There are long queues [of people] waiting for water. All the farmers pray for rain, but this year they are hopeless. They think the drought will destroy normal life here.” She added: “I feel bad seeing the condition of my children. I can’t give them a good life, not even a portion of good food.”

Chief executive Gwen Hines said: “Children in Afghanistan are facing the threat of death from starvation and dangerous labour, and families are taking desperate measures to survive. The UK Government’s decision to more than halve its funding for the country this year is a tragic blow to their hopes and dreams. It is a betrayal of everything Britain should stand for and it breaks the UK’s promise to ‘leave no one behind.’”

Arshad Malik, Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, said: “Two years since the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan, conditions for children and their families are abysmal. What we are seeing is a perfect storm of the climate crisis, poverty and the legacy of conflict inflicting hunger, malnutrition and misery on people who have done nothing to contribute to any of these conditions.

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“We hope that the international community, which has significantly cut funding to critical food aid across Afghanistan, will rethink this isolationist approach, remember the millions of innocent children whose lives are in jeopardy, and stop punishing them for decisions they have had nothing to do with.”

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Sophie Huskisson