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Afghanistan is not the nicest place to live in at the moment (has it ever been?), but according to a recent report on BBC, the Taliban has now begun rounding up drug addicts from street corners and underneath bridges and forcing them into ill-equipped rehab centres.
The makeshift rehabilitation centre is located on the site of an abandoned US military base that used to house that country’s recently-fled troops, and according to reports these facilities sometimes house more than 3 000 men in a space that only accommodates 1 000 people. They are kept there for 45 days before being released.
“I was under the bridge trying to get some drugs when I felt a hand grab me from behind. It was the Taliban. They had come to take us away.”
One such ‘inpatient’ is Mohamed Omar. Omar used to be a flight attendant and regularly travelled all over the world before he lost his job after Kabul fell in 2022. He ended up living under a bridge with other addicts until the Taliban came for them.
“One day I was in Dubai, the next Turkey and sometimes Iran. I travelled the world as a flight attendant with Kam Air and would often have VIP guests like the former presidents on the aircraft.”
Before the US invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban regularly rounded up homeless drug users for forced rehab, but since the US military left, these forced removals have surged. While most of the people being removed were men, there were also women and children living among them.
Afghanistan is known as the drug addiction capital of the world and many as 3,5 million people are addicts. In a country with a population of 30 million, the use of heroin and meth is a serious issue.
Footage later released by the Taliban government showed their soldiers clearing the area of addicts who had died from an overdose – their lifeless bodies being carried away wrapped in dark grey shawls.
The Taliban tried to stamp out poppy production during the 80s, but since taking control of the country, cultivation has increased by 32%, despite the Taliban insisting that the drug plant is being eradicated.
Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse, and the dangers of more people being forced to use drugs as a means of escape from their hellish existence will only increase.
It seems the world left Afghani people to whatever fate awaited them after the Taliban took over, but the caregivers in these so-called rehabilitation centres still care for their countrymen and doctors are committed to helping them overcome addiction.
“There are many professionals among this group. Smart, educated people who once had good lives. But the difficulties in our society, the poverty and lack of jobs mean they were looking for an escape. There is no certainty that these patients won’t relapse once they leave.”
Speaking for the Taliban after taking over the country, Zabihullah Mujahid made several promises for the new government, such as: ‘We are going to allow women to work and study…. women are going to be very active.”
But when school reopened for a new year, the Taliban reneged on its promise and girls are currently not permitted to attend secondary school.
So yes, it sucks big time to live in Afghanistan. But only if you need help, have a vagina, or want to have a future.
It’s pretty sweet if you are part of the Taliban though.
[source:bbc]
