Afghanistan dispatches: ‘a 40-year-old man has hanged himself due to poverty’ Dispatches
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Afghanistan dispatches: ‘a 40-year-old man has hanged himself due to poverty’

Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kabul reports on protests and a death related to the country’s developing economic crisis. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding his name. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

Various incidents have occurred in Afghanistan today (Saturday) as a result of poverty, insecurity, unemployment, and the country’s escalating humanitarian crisis. During a protest in Kabul, a number of male employees from the Ministry of Urban Development and Land demanded that the Taliban-led government pay their salaries. Tens of employees gathered today told local media that they have not received their paychecks in six months. These civil servants stated that they have communicated their demands to the Taliban-led government but have yet to receive a response. 

The protesting employees emphasize that the Ministry of Urban Development and Land is one of the key and non-political ministries of the country. If their salaries are not paid anymore the doors of this ministry will be closed because a number of employees have already decided to migrate and leave the country. Signs carried by the men at the protests reflected these positions. 

In another protest the government-owned hospital called 400-Bed has also told media that their salaries are pending from four to six months now.

It is worth mentioning that since the fall of the previous government, the level of poverty and unemployment among the people has intensified. Human rights groups have also expressed concern about the current situation, warning that a humanitarian catastrophe could occur if the current crisis is not addressed. Deepening poverty resulted in illegal migration of many Afghans and has sped up the crisis. In an incident in the capital of Parwan province, local sources say that a 40-year-old man has hanged himself in due to poverty. They say that Mohammad Najib had been a driver in the past but had been unemployed for some time. The local government of Parwan has not yet said anything about this. In recent days, the number of suicides due to poverty has increased in the country.

Also on Saturday, two different explosions have taken place: in Kabul, one religious scholar was killed and others injured, and another person was killed by armed men in Farah province.

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