Some child labourers detained by Taliban authorities have been subjected to sexual harassment and abuse while in custody, according to a report by Afghan broadcaster Amu TV, which cited accounts from several children.
One child, identified under the pseudonym Mohammad for security reasons, said he had been arrested three times by Taliban forces and was sexually abused while held at Badam Bagh prison in Kabul.
He told the broadcaster that he and others were detained and held for 11 days in poor conditions, given inadequate food and beaten in an effort to force them to stop working. He said they were subjected to repeated obscene remarks and inappropriate touching. After their release, he said, they worked elsewhere as apprentices but continued to face physical harassment from guards.
According to the report, some children said Taliban members detained them from the streets and transferred them to the group’s Dar-ul-Hifaz centres under what they described as false promises of assistance.
A child identified as Nawid, who sells bags with his two brothers and is his family’s main breadwinner, said he fled from a Taliban-run Dar-ul-Hifaz centre but was later rearrested and taken back by force.
“They said they would help us and gave us 100 afghanis per week, but that stopped,” he said, according to Amu TV. “I escaped one morning during prayers. The next day, when I was working again, they tried to put me in a vehicle. I jumped out and got injured, but they caught me again.”
The report said some children stated they were given religious and jihad-related instruction at the centres and were encouraged to take part in jihad in the future.
Several children said they were beaten while in Taliban detention and were told not to work. They said they were promised assistance but received no support after their release.
The Taliban administration has not responded to the allegations. Similar claims of abuse in Taliban-run detention facilities have been reported previously.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have promoted their religious ideology among young people and expanded religious schools across the country, institutions that some human rights organisations say can serve as recruitment grounds.
Child labourers are among the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan. Decades of war and widespread poverty have forced millions of children into street work, exposing them to multiple risks.
According to UNICEF, at least one in five children in Afghanistan is engaged in labour. The agency has also said that about 2.5 million Afghan children between the ages of 5 and 17 are involved in hazardous work that threatens their health and future.
