Worryingly high numbers of child-laborers in Baghlan

PUL-I-KHUMRI (SW) – A worryingly high numbers of children are busy in tireless labor in Baghlan province.

Syed Hifzullah Fitrat, head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) told Salam Watandar the number of child laborers in Baghlan is higher than many other provinces in the country.

In views of Mohammad Rasool Qane, a local official, many of these child laborers have arrived in Baghlan province from other parts of the country to work in extraction of minerals.

According to a local physician, Syed Mohammad Ali, many of these children are seriously sick because of the hard labor at these mines, and they visit public hospital in Pul-e-Khumri for treatment.

In conversation with SW, two such child laborers, Tamim and Syed Rehman, said financial constraints in their families compelled them to quit studies, and work in mines in Baghlan.

According to the local officials, up to 300 children are visiting Pul-e-Khumri on daily basis for tough everyday labor at these mines.

ENDS