Addicts in the world’s most drug-affected Afghan region are
feeding their own children opium to keep them quiet, and selling relatives to
fund their own heroin habits, Metro has learned.
And such is the desperation to pay for drugs, any ruse will do.
Abdurahim Mutar, 36, admits trading in his own sister, Tazagul.
His wife Seema, 22, was forcing some of her stash upon
four-year-old daughter, Madina, and son, Zabihula, two. And Abdurahim’s mother
Zarghona, 58, and brother were also addicted.
Worst-hit is the town of Shortepa in the Afghan province of
Balkh, along a trafficking route taking freshly farmed opiates to the rest of
the world.
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| Sold by her family: An eight- year-old girl who was traded in Kabul |
Afghanistan is responsible for farming 90 per cent of the
world’s opium and has 1million addicts of its own.
Yet only an estimated 10,000 each year are treated, with 21 of
34 provinces offering rehabilitation.
Abdurahim said he was addicted for 13 years and blamed his
mujahideen days in the mountains.
Army colleagues urged him to try the opiates they felt necessary
to get through their arduous days.
Abdurahim said: ‘When my daughter was one, we’d give her opium
because she was crying a lot.
‘She’d reject eating it but we’d give her the drugs by force.
‘We just weren’t aware it was dangerous or it would create
health problems. If anything, we thought it would be beneficial. It’s very
common here.’
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| Helping hand: A clinic for some of the 1million Afghans addicted to opium |
He had spent many hours trying to persuade his wife his drug
habit was purely to treat a long-standing stomach ache, only to find her
unconvinced, yet also tempted to try what he was taking.
The toll the drugs have taken on him is evident. He hesitates
when asked to recall his baby son’s name. It was only when he was pushed into
treatment – in-house in Shortepa, while his wife was treated at home – that he
acknowledged the costs involved.
His sister Tazagul, then 18, was traded for nearly £4,000, sold
to someone living in a distant region to help prop up the family finances and
pay for food as well as drugs.
Abdurahim said: ‘She accepted this. I was happy to get a lot of
money for her, spending it without really thinking about where it came from.
‘Now I wish I’d used it better, for a vehicle or some property,
perhaps.’
Elsewhere, Kabul-based refugee camp resident Shah Bibi, 24, told
of the dark secrets she only belatedly discovered about her heroin-addicted
husband, Ghafoor.
It was after his death last year that Shah realised his debts of
£3,770, accrued while working in the United Arab Emirates, had prompted a deal
for his daughters Farida, eight, and six-year-old Parwina.
Shah’s brother managed to intervene and cancel the deal for poor
Farida, but she must be married off to someone from his sister’s own clan.
Action to stop the rot has been effective. At the 14-bed
Shortepa centre, supported by Islamic Relief UK, more than 1,500 people have
been treated and the addiction rate across the province is said to have fallen.
Clinic director Dr Mohammad Ehsan Hamrah insisted: ‘Back in
2006, most families had addicts in them – now, most families are without any
addicts. This is our biggest achievement.’
And yet an estimated 99 per cent of addicts nationwide remain
without formal help – often at a high price.
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