Afghanistan: Dire condition of daily wage workers in war-torn country after Taliban siege

Since the Taliban took control over Kabul, the economy of the nation is collapsing every day, as a consequence, daily wage earners are not being able to maintain their families as they do not have much employment. According to The Frontier Post, quoting a report from Pajhwok News, previously, about 46% of daily wagers of the nation were employed, but that percentage has decreased by 4% since the Taliban overthrew the democratically-elected administration.

Resulting in, the people of Afghanistan are moving towards starvation. Ali Khan who is a daily wage labourer from Qala-i-Wahid of Afghanistan told Pajhwok that prior to Kabul's fall, almost 300 to 400 daily wage workers arrived in that region but out of that proportion only 150 to 200 workers have obtained employment.  

As per ANI, Ali said, “There is no work. We have been coming here for the past 20 days. I haven't been offered any work. Only one or two people are offered work. Others stay here hungry and thirsty. Faced with a whole host of problems.” He further added that he has to bear all the family expenditures.  

Problems faced by daily wage workers 

Mohammad Liaqat Adill, the President of the All Afghanistan Federation of Trade Unions (AAFTU), described the position of daily wage earners in the nation as a very serious issue and stated that poverty and joblessness had attained a pinnacle. Even though the Taliban have recently installed a new caretaker administration in the nation, still the government officials and NGO employees have yet to obtain their monthly paychecks, due to the fact that banking operations in the country have not yet resumed. 

Humanitarian organisations concern about unemployment and poverty 

According to Human Rights Watch, which is a non-governmental organisation, Afghanistan's citizens are in the midst of a catastrophic economic downturn. Food and other basic costs have increased amid the transformation of the government. Despite the fact that most banking institutions are still inaccessible, the United Nations (UN) has documented limited access to funds and probable food shortages. While the World Food Program of the UN stated that almost 93% of families in the nation are undernourished. Even, according to the United Nations Development Program, the Afghan population is plunging into poverty due to the lack of employment and economic crisis.   

Thus, the UN agencies have recently issued a warning that a humanitarian disaster is looming in the country, urging donor nations to put effort to support an emergency urgent campaign. The United States and the European Union have also declared that they will maintain to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan citizens. 

(Image: AP/ Representative Image)