As the world focuses attention on the persisting crisis in Ukraine, the unending catastrophe plaguing Afghanistan has all but escaped the headlines.
Yet the Afghan people’s immeasurable pain continues. Just months after the Taliban took back power, their nation is reportedly in tatters, with persecution, chaos, and poverty abounding.
Amid the chaos and consideration, AFP reports that a “growing number” of Afghans are selling their kidneys to survive intense hunger. Some are selling the organ for just $1,500.
The problem is so pervasive one area near Herat, Afghanistan, has been dubbed “one-kidney village.” The practice was reportedly illegal before the Taliban takeover but is no longer, according to The Telegraph.
One 32-year-old man named Nooruddin told AFP he sold his kidney to provide for his family, but he is now in pain and regrets his decision.
“I had to do it for the sake of my children,” he said. “I didn’t have any other option.”
Nooruddin’s 12-year-old son is now the family’s breadwinner, bringing in 70 cents per day shining shoes.
This video has more: (caution: graphic content):
And Nooruddin isn’t alone. The Telegraph spoke with Aziza, a mother of three who must choose between selling her kidney or selling her baby daughter.
“My children roam on the streets begging,” she told the outlet. “If I don’t sell my kidney, I will be forced to sell my one-year-old daughter.”
This is the plight of many Afghans after decades of war and chaos that intensified after the Taliban’s rise to power in August following the United States’ quick and chaotic withdrawal.
In September, the United Nations warned 97% of Afghans could be impoverished by mid-2022 if drastic action isn’t taken to address the problem.
“Afghanistan teeters on the brink of universal poverty,” the UN said, basing its claim on a study from the United Nations Development Programme. “As much as 97% of the population is at risk of sinking below the poverty line unless a response to the country’s political and economic crises is urgently launched.”
The Telegraph reported 24 million Afghans need “lifesaving” aid, a 30% increase from last year.
As Faithwire previously reported, problems with intense persecution are also rampant. An Aghan woman speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution said the Taliban are going “door-to-door,” snatching up young girls and killing Christians “on the spot.”
“The Taliban are going door-to-door snatching young girls and destroying families,” she said in an emotional video. “They are conducting a door-to-door search to find us, and if they find us, they kill believers on the spot.”
Gulshan said Christians in Afghanistan “live in fear” that they will either be killed by the Taliban or “die of hunger.” To underscore the severity of the situation, she shared how she and her family have been forced to live on one bowl of lentils over three days. Read more of what she had to say here.
And it doesn’t end there. Afghanistan is now rated the worst nation in the world for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List.
The shocking development is undoubtedly the “biggest seismic shift” in decades, as North Korea, the reclusive and oppressive East Asian country, was bumped from the top spot it had occupied for 20 years.
“This year’s 2022 World Watch List, we think, is the biggest seismic shift in over 20 years because Afghanistan is now the No. 1 country on the World Watch List, supplanting North Korea,” Open Doors USA CEO David Curry recently told Faithwire.
Please continue to pray for Afghanistan.
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