RIYADH, 24 October 2003 — More than 208 Afghan children allegedly trafficked to Saudi Arabia over the past few years will be repatriated within the next few days, according to Syed Muhammad Nabi Fatmi, first secretary at the Afghanistan Embassy.
The Afghan Embassy has also been working with Saudi government agencies to regularize the status of some 50,000 illegal Afghan workers in an effort to ensure that they continue to stay and work in the Kingdom.
“A large number of teenage Afghans have been brought to Saudi Arabia by certain unscrupulous elements during the past few years without the knowledge of relevant government agencies,” said Fatmi. He quoted the Afghan minister for social affairs as saying, “42 children were sent back to Afghanistan from Jeddah last week.” Some of the children, who have already arrived in Kabul, are now in an orphanage run by the Afghan Social Affairs Ministry.
Asked about the assistance provided by the Kingdom, Fatmi said that many Saudi charities had supported the project to return the children to Afghanistan.
Dr. Abdul Wahab Noorwali, assistant secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, said that three major organizations — WAMY, the International Islamic Relief Organization and the Al-Bir Charitable Association in cooperation with the authorities — have agreed to provide shelter for the children in the Kingdom pending their return to Afghanistan, where they will be accommodated in WAMY-run orphanages.
Dr. Noorwali said, “Saudi charities will continue to cater to the needs of the children in Afghanistan and will search for their parents and sponsors in an effort to reunite the children with their loved ones. Children who cannot be reunited with their relatives or parents will stay at WAMY orphanages, and will enjoy all services provided to orphans, including an annual grant, free education and medical treatment.”
WAMY has recently implemented a sacrificial meat project from which thousands of poor Afghans will benefit.
Many Saudi charities as well as Afghan officials and officials of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have expressed serious concerns over reports of children being abducted and trafficked from Afghanistan.
According to UNICEF, since early this year at least 80 children have been abducted, apparently to be trafficked to Iran and Pakistan. UNICEF has called for intervention by Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali.
It is cause for additional worry that some 85,000 Afghan children die every year in Afghanistan because of poor nutrition and the lack of health care facilities. The Kingdom employs some 160,000 Afghans. Riyadh has also been in the forefront of nations pledging aid and financial assistance to Kabul for relief and reconstruction.
