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Nine months after the Taliban took power, the country is experiencing a new shift. The country is economically drained, international aid is no longer delivered, famine threatens and a practice intensifies: that of the sale of children by families to cover their debts.
A misery camp, lost in the mountains four hours drive from the big city of Herat, in western Afghanistan. Here, no Taliban, no NGOs, but women and children trying to survive. The only wealth is the little girls, and many are for sale. Amina, 10, was sold three months ago for around $2,300. “I sold my daughter because of starvation and poverty”, said his mother. The husband, 20 years older than her, is to pick her up in a few weeks. There will be no marriage, he will take her away by force.
In the cob houses follow one another stories more terrible than the others. Families are starving, in debt. Another woman survives on less than 50 cents a day. With three children, a 5-month-old baby, a disabled granddaughter, and 5-year-old Sabera, whom she sold for $500 to a couple who cannot have children. It is difficult to measure the extent of the phenomenon. But in these small mountain villages, the sale of children has doubled over the past year.