Afghanistan's 3-Year-Old Heroin Addicts

Afghan children as young as three are being driven to the brink, Ibrahim explaining

‘I’d rather die than live through this war’. He’s just one of 600 addicts supported by one of more than 20 sites where groups of the society’s most vulnerable put their lives on the line every day, using dirty needles from the rubbish-strewn ground to inject themselves with Opium and Heroin available for just £1 per gram.

The UK has recently increased the amount of aid we send to Afghanistan to help keep the country safe, yet it is becoming increasingly apparent that fighting in the country between insurgents and the government is not the only problem there. 

In the last five years alone addiction rates have doubled, with doctors warning that Afghanistan could soon find that an entire generation are unable to work or contribute to society in any way. One reporter for Channel 4’s Unreported World investigated how this underground culture is infiltrating ordinary families.

One father of six watched four of his children die when his community got caught up in the conflict. His other two children were badly wounded in the blast two years ago. With no doctor in the village, he tells of how another of its residents was faced with the task of amputating what remained of his daughter’s arm and how, since then, she has suffered unbearable pain, for which the only treatment he can afford is Opium. Yet as well as being a cheap pain killer substitute, another family gains a different benefit from the substance.

Having once fed the family of nine using money gained by farming the Opium crop, a recent government crackdown in the area has destroyed their livelihood. They show the reporter two pieces of stale bread and a flask of tea which will feed everyone tonight. Any further sustonance will come from £2 worth of Opium sourced from dealers who travel through the area’s villages serving hundreds of customers. With food costing £3 per day, the family see this as their only option.

This is something which Muktah confirms. The 13-year-old recounts how, aged eight, he was paid to stand guard while addicts took drugs which, by nine, he was taking himself. Becoming evermore desperate to fund his addiction, he found himself spending the night with men less than a year later. When asked if he understood what sex was at the time, he explains that he did and that it terrified him knowing that, if caught, he could be shot.

While agencies attempt to cure Afghan’s addicts using just one hospital and serving 20 children at a time, families tell Channel 4 how fathers use drugs as stimulants, enabling them to work longer hours. When they return home, any treatment undergone by their families is rendered worthless.

So what’s the solution? Does one even exist? Should Britain do more? Has the problem become so big it is now unresolvable? Feel free to comment below and watch Unreported World.