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Economic crisis hits orphanages in Afghanistan

November 17, 2021 at 5:47 pm

Afghan people who live in a camp where they struggle to live in worn out tents and poor conditions, 8 kilometers from Qala-e-naw, the capital of Badghis Province in Afghanistan on October 28, 2021 [Ahmad Seddiqi – Anadolu Agency]

Thousands of children staying in orphanages had to be sent to their relatives’ homes due to the economic crisis that deepened with the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the information gathered from officials, there are 68 orphanages, including private orphanages, but 26 of them closed due to the economic situation of the country.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, managers of the orphanage said some active orphanages might close if financial problems are not resolved.

It is learned that 9,319 children were staying in orphanages before the Taliban, but 3,566 of them, which makes 4 out of 10 children, were sent to their relatives’ homes due to the economic crisis.

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Mucibi Rahman Hotak,, the manager of the orphanage in the capital, Kabul, said they cannot meet the daily needs of children such as food, clothes and medical supplies.

“We need everything from food to winter materials such as coal and clothes to keep them warm, and stationery products for their education,” he added.

Feyzan Ahmed Kaker, the director of Afghanistan orphanages, said there are some problems that remained from the previous government but the essential problem is food for children.

“If opportunities are provided and the economic situation improves, children sent to their relatives can apply to orphanages again,” he added.

Stating that, even now, some children are applying but they cannot accept them due to the impossibility and limited activity of orphanages in some provinces.

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