Blog One: Opium Brides

                Not only are headlines about Afghanistan front page news for various reasons, including war, terrorism, and the like, but one more defining factor can be added to the list. Drugs are heavily trafficked in this nation, and along with this comes other forms of trafficking. Humans, women and girls most commonly, are used as a form of debt repayment to opium smugglers. These "opium brides," as they are most often referred to, are critical factors in determining whether opium farmers either live or die. Najibullah Quraishi, an Afghan journalist and filmmaker, exposes this trade in his 2012 documentary Opium Brides.

                Opium is a primary crop grown in Afghanistan. The geography is favorable for opium growing conditions. In the Nangarhar province, opium eradication is the government's target. They destroy much of the opium poppies, thus leaving thousands of farmers in debt to drug smugglers, of whom they borrowed money to plant and grow opium. This debt fuels the trade of females, which is often the means between life and death for the father. The opium brides can sometimes be bought back once the debt is repaid to the drug traffickers.

                Many farmers have no choice but to grow opium. Over 200,000 farmer families produce over 90 percent of the global opium output. The opium trade brings in roughly two billion dollars into the Afghanistan economy, which equates to about 10 percent of the economy. As we can see, opium has a great effect on this nation's economy, and surely the economy would suffer if this crop would cease. It was estimated by one farmer that his two acres of opium would equal twenty times the money of what wheat crops would bring in. Thus, we can see that opium is economically desirable. One farmer estimates that one kilo of opium ranges from 2,000 dollars to 2,500 dollars. Many farmers say they would all grow opium if they could. Some cannot, however, because of their proximity to the city of Jalalabad. As we can see, opium has a heavy effect on this country's economy, both in the macro-economy of Afghanistan as a whole, and micro-economically, in the individual lives of farmers.

                Jalalabad is the main city in the Afghan province of Nangarhar. Like mentioned earlier, the government's main target is to eradicate opium growth in this area. One district official claims that farmers in this area support opium eradication, while documentary footage obviously goes against that claim. Security for this eradication process is provided by NATO ISAF troops; they "do not eradicate the poppy, but provide security and stability in order to provide an alternative livelihood for Afghan people." They provide a program that helps farmers in this region to grow alternative crops (like maize or wheat). But, as it comes down to economics, this would lead to a slow income and the farmers would not make nearly as much as they would have from opium. Thus, the farmers still would prefer to grow opium. In some farming communities, farmers are "fighting back" and protesting against police with force. In the documentary, there is footage of the police opening fire on to the farmers. Within the chaos, the farmers are still hoping to get the right to grow their crops.

                In other communities, farmers have no intention of switching crops. One man claims that he "will die for it." Much further from the city of Jalalabad, some districts are under the protection of the Taliban, thus giving the farmers a sense of security because police do not venture far into these areas, which are near the Pakistan border. Drug smuggling is a primary source of income for the Taliban, which includes actual drug trafficking and forcing others to pay bribes to safely pass through their territory (while smuggling drugs). Other  villages in Afghanistan are so small and isolated that they are simply too distant for the government to reach. These villages are particularly interesting because they have traditional means of dealing with disagreements among villagers, with the village elders handling most of the problems. The geography of Afghanistan, being very mountainous, in particular near the Pakistan border, leads to the isolation of these villages and also the lack of police effect in these areas.

                In Afghanistan, females are considered to be at fault even if they are raped. Afghanistan does not acknowledge the abuse of women, which Quraishi deems "taboo to talk about sexual abuse." For such a modern age, the fundamentalist and cultural ideals portraying women to be less than human is obviously influencing political and social ideas within Afghanistan. Safia Siddiqi, a former member of the Afghan parliament, does not speak much about sexual abuse of the opium brides when questioned by Quraishi. A local director of counter-narcotics, when questioned about the opium brides, claimed to know nothing while the camera was filming. We can see these ideas, of females being at fault no matter the circumstance, being played out. This also leads us to know that there is a lack of equality in Afghanistan, that traditional ideologies are still leading the country in politics, religion, and culture. Also, a framed photograph on both the desk of Siddiqi and the local director of counter-narcotics, I would assume, is the Afghan leader. I was very taken aback by this because it reminded me so much of a dictatorship where people would be forced to bow and worship to a leader.

                There are numerous cases of "opium brides" that Quraishi exposes in his documentary. The sadness and guilt felt by one father who had to give his daughter to drug smugglers led him to become an opium addict. Another girl, whose sister was taken by smugglers, claimed that she would kill herself if she was taken, saying that "death is better than sorrow and sadness." Another father was forced to give his son and daughter away, because even if he gave his own life, he knew his family would still be in danger because of his debt. The eradication policies that the Afghanistan government is enforcing is tearing apart many families and causing much disorder within the lives of many.

                On a small scale, the debt is causing (mostly) young girls to be taken from their families. This has to have a great impact on the psychological development of the girls, and also on their surrounding family members. But in a country where females do not have equal rights, the government displays much apathy towards this issue. In my opinion, for such a "modern" age in which we live, this nation is so traditional in its thinking that it will succumb to any outside influx of information if it accidentally slipped in.

                The culture in Afghanistan is heavily influenced by many features that define this nation, including its religion, politics, demography, and even in some cases, geography (as per the isolated villages in Afghanistan). The culture is so heavily woven into everyday life that religion and culture seem to go hand in hand. In the Islamic faith, many fundamentalist ideologies are present, and in areas where the Taliban reigns, fundamentalist ideas rule. The religion and culture heavily shape the government, where there is definitely not a separation of church and state in Afghanistan. In traditional societies, however, there is no separation. Thus, I believe that Afghanistan is still traditional in its ways because of this, despite the fact that we are in the twenty-first century. I do question the amount of technology that is readily available in Afghanistan, because I did see cellular phones, automobiles, and other modern technologies present in the documentary. So philosophically and analytically speaking, what constitutes modern society: modern government, the latest technology, or a multi-diverse and accepting culture?

                As I was watching this documentary, I wondered what it would be like if I were the one filming. Would I, a very non-Afghan looking person, have been able to hold a camera and ask questions of various people (with a translator, of course)? Demographically, I would have stuck out. I probably would have been questioned immediately and maybe thrown into jail. Oh yes, I also am female, which probably would not have been such a likeable thought with the Afghan majority. Or would I have been able to do exactly what Quarashi was able to accomplish in this very ethnocentric and traditional society? My guess would be the former, as most people would assume.

                It is very bizarre to think that human trade still exists in the world today. As Quraishi exposed in his documentary, there are many factors determining the fate of many young girls (and boys) throughout Afghanistan. How are we in modernized countries supposed to react to this? If the Afghan government does not recognize these innocent victims of the opium trade, what will become of them? These are questions with answers that we do not yet know, but can only hope that the answer is better than the current situation.

"Opium Brides." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/opium-brides/>.

Photo from:  "The Truth About Opium Brides." Foreign Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137315/fariba-nawa/the-truth-about-opium-brides>.