The Taliban’s Office of Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs says it has identified and removed 28,433 beggars from the streets of Kabul, including 12,272 women, 3,716 men and 12,445 children.
“Those in genuine need of help will be provided with cash assistance and homeless children will be transferred to the Ministry of Labour’s training centres after biometric registration,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
This is the Taliban’s second round of crackdown on street beggars in Kabul. The group claimed it had cleared 17,000 people in the Afghan capital in November last year.
The collapse of the Afghan economy after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 has led to exponential increases in unemployment and poverty, forcing many to beg on the streets.
With over 28 million people dependent on humanitarian aid for survival, 6 million of whom are on the verge of famine, Afghanistan is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
