The warning signs come sparsely from the humanitarian field and from international organizations. And it’s something serious. In Afghanistan, of the likely 39 million people, about 20 million are starving. For a country without statistics, it is not known for sure how many have died of malnutrition.
Let’s take the case of a woman in the north of the country. Two of her young children died from lack of food. Before the third, a year and a half, died, she sold the child to neighbors who promised to one day marry her to one of the boys in the family. The case was reported by a BBC podcast that follows a report by public broadcaster France 2, aired two weeks ago.
In one of them, Afghans line up for seven hours to receive a monthly family allowance of R$260, which is not enough to buy food for everyone at home. Afghan couples have an average of five children.
In another scene, a young militia member of the Taliban, the extremist Islamic group that regained power in the country last year, loudly tells a group of women that he has not received his salary for four months and, therefore, in his home either. there is something to eat. Radio France International says that Afghan Agriculture Minister Abdul Rahman Rashid has promised to distribute 66,000 tonnes of wheat to the population. But this will only give 1.7 kg per inhabitant. It will not solve the food problem.
Let’s recap. Afghanistan was invaded in 2001 by the US to make the Islamic regime an accomplice of the terrorists responsible for 9/11. The Afghan Republic collapsed last year, and in response to Taliban radicalism, the Americans, along with humanitarian organizations, cut off international support, intensifying the food crisis. Humanitarian aid represented 40% of Afghan GDP.
The estimate of 20 million people going hungry was released last May by the UN. FAO, the United Nations food agency, has failed to deliver on its assistance program. She received only a third of the $200 million she needed for her Afghan program.
On the BBC podcast, a senior UN official says that in exchange for food, the Taliban promises anything from better human rights outcomes to education for women. But the religious leaders of the interior rule out doctrinal concessions. And they continue to discriminate against women.
Thus, they agree with the Republican congressmen who, in Washington, command the freezing of US$ 9.5 billion (foreign exchange reserves and loans) claimed by the government of Afghanistan.
And if nothing goes right, it’s because in Afghanistan everything is wrong. Testimonies of despair are chained to the BBC. A woman reports that friends were killed by a Taliban patrol. There is no one to turn to. Another says the family barely survived last winter’s cold. But who to ask for help?
A volunteer from the NGO Doctor Without Borders reports the state in which babies arrive at the pediatric sector. Due to hunger, they weigh half as much as they should. And they usually die after a few days of hospitalization. “Now only God can take care of him,” said a woman who had just lost a child.
There is, finally, a sketch of the middle class that managed to save some money in better times. They are, for example, families that had two sons, enlisted them in the Army and received the two US$ 400 from the Americans. But that middle class has become impoverished. Banks are illiquid to operate and limit withdrawals to a maximum of the equivalent of US$100 per month.
They are a set of economic and social symptoms that an Afghan citizen laments, summarizing the situation as follows: “NATO countries don’t like the Taliban, and that’s why they pulled our rug”. The BBC podcast is pivotal for its sadness. Starving to death is tragic.
