Despite living in dire poverty and often serving as the sole breadwinners for their families, child laborers in Kabul say they face detention by Taliban rather than the support once promised to them.
Many of these children, working in the streets of Kabul, say they have been arrested simply for trying to earn a living. Taliban, they note, have repeatedly pledged assistance, yet no tangible aid has materialized.
Among them is Abida, a teenage girl who once dreamed of going to school. After her father’s death, she began selling plastic bags in Kabul’s alleyways to provide for her family. One day, she says, she was detained by Taliban forces for working in public.
“I was selling bags when the Taliban arrested me,” she said. “I spent a night and a day in jail. We want to study, to get an education, but there is no one to help us. I’m the only breadwinner in my family. There are eight of us, and I cover all the expenses.”
Naweed, another child worker whose father is ill, sells pens on the street. He says the Taliban have not only discouraged him from working but have also threatened him with arrest.
“They’ve been telling us for more than two years not to work,” he said. “But we have no choice. I work out of necessity, which is also why I can’t attend school.”
Moqbel, who for six years polished shoes to support his family, says he changed jobs after being detained by the Taliban.
“I used to clean shoes, but after being in jail, I was jobless for a while,” he said. “Now I burn incense on the street. If the Taliban try to round us up, it’s easier to run.”
Their accounts come in the wake of an order from Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to form a committee for the collection of beggars, followed by an initiative to remove child workers from the streets. But according to the children, the promised financial and social support has yet to arrive.
While the Taliban maintain that these measures are intended to protect orphaned and working children, some economic analysts argue the true motivation is to attract humanitarian aid rather than address the systemic needs of vulnerable youth.
