Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

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Children Should not be Ignored

Dear Editor,
Being surrounded by today's crucial political, economical and other social crisis, children are completely forgotten while children are the asset of societies and nations. Thus, they are the future of nation for the socio-economic and political developments. Over the past more than 30 years of conflicts, today the country witnesses huge numbers of children orphaned and living without shelter in open places. It is extremely hard to tolerate observing the condition of the children living in Afghanistan.

Every place you visit has its own terrifying and sad story that can be hardly seen. The children in the country have always been and still are under a very crucial rule of injustice and violence. They are subjected to both physical and mental abuse and the discrimination against them everyday increase by their parents or by other warlords.

Child protection policy is working in Afghanistan including many other working NGOs haven't yet discovered the total numbers of children who are under extreme pressure of violence and discrimination. Indeed, yet they haven't discovered most of the children who are under physical abuse. They are used for drug transportation to different countries by the warlords and other criminal networks. They are the victims of airstrikes and the victims of physical abuse, they are the victims of labour and the victims of family violence, mine and many other humiliated violence and discrimination.

On the other hand, Children's involvement in work is common in Afghanistan and is often another reason for not attending school. Bacha bazi (keeping boys as sex slaves by wealthy or powerful patrons). The government of Afghanistan has done little to tackle this abusive cultural tradition. Corporal punishment is widely used and recognized, though to a certain extent is not entirely socially accepted. Physical violence exists to varying degrees within all families interviewed and most commonly children experienced slapping, verbal abuse, punching, kicking, and biting with thin sticks, electrical and cables.

According to various articles and editorials, being published in your website and in New York Times show that corporal punishment, also used on children as young as 2 or 3 years and no clear difference between the punishments of boys and girls were identified. Seeing these abusive acts against the children of Afghanistan, the government must and should bring them under the law make the law for the children must be workable in every corner of the country to reduce the numbers of victims.

Sajjad Ali Haidari
Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan