UN supports bid to prevent smuggling of Afghan children

A United Nations spokesman in Kabul today announced the world body's support for a new drive to prevent smugglers from taking Afghan children to other countries where they are used for cheap labour.

Manoel de Almeida e Silva said UN agencies, working with government officials and a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), “have been working on a comprehensive set of essential measures aimed at curbing this illegal practice and raising awareness about the problem.”

Meanwhile, steps are being taken to reunite children who had been deported from other countries with their families back in Afghanistan. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are backing the operation, which since October has brought over 70 children – mostly boys ranging in age from 5 to 15 – back to Afghanistan.

In another development, a UNHCR spokesman today reported that 150 Afghans who survived December's devastating earthquake in Bam are back in their home country. The agency is providing them with cash, food and relief supplies while helping additional Afghan earthquake survivors to make their way home.