What is the most that you can do for your child to give him a good future? The probable answers would be securing his future by making good investments to make funds available when he needs it or imparting good knowledge so that he is at par with the rest of the world.
Well the Iraqis think or rather are forced to think otherwise. In a war struck nation where the living conditions are worsening by the passing day the best thing its citizens can do for their children is to sell them away. Yes, as shocking it may sound it is a harsh reality that is stigmatizing Iraq in recent times.
With the army destroying even the civilian areas of Iraq the people are left without any shelter and are forced to stay in make-shift refugee camps. People are left unemployed with the economic status of the country slumping dangerously. The hygiene of these areas is in a very poor condition leading the residents to lead unhealthy lifestyles and putting them at risk of an epidemic. The children here are malnourished and have to drop their education as their parents cannot afford the fees.
In such conditions the parents are resorting to selling off their children to foreigners in order to get some money and secure the child’s future. On questioning they justify their actions by saying that by selling off their child they have ensured their healthy upbringing along with providing monetarily to the remaining kids. However in stark contrast is the case of Khalid Jabboury who sold one of his seven children for $20,000 and is now repenting. On interviewing Khalid Jabboury, 38, said
After one year I heard from some relatives that they had seen my seven year old daughter working as a servant for the supposed new family and she was being beaten as well.
He is now trying with the help of some NGOs to retrieve her back which seems almost impossible with the child already gone out of the country. This is still a controllable problem with the government taking measures to check the illegal selling of children by posting guards to examine each vehicle going out of Iraq. The more difficult problem seems to be that of children getting suspiciously lost. In the past year the rate of missing children has rose by 20 percent and is alarming. The government suspects trafficking of children for sexual abuse and illegal organ transplants as the cause behind the disappearing of children.
Source and Image: Al Jazeera
