Pakistan's Sindh orders inquiry into monsoon child brides

Agence France-Presse
August 20, 2024 

Members of the NGO Sujag Sansar put on a performance to create awareness of underage marriages in Sindh province on August 4. AFP's report on the rise in child brides has prompted an investigation by the provincial government (Asif HASSAN/AFP)

A Pakistan provincial government has ordered an inquiry into child marriages in areas affected by floods in 2022 following an exclusive AFP story on the subject.

Pakistan's high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022 rights workers warned that such weddings were on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.

In a report published on August 16, AFP spoke to girls married at the ages of 13 and 14 in exchange for money at villages hard hit by the floods in Sindh province.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry into the matter, his spokesman Rasheed Channa told AFP.

"The Chief Minister wants to understand the social impact of the rains on the people of this area. After the report is submitted, he will visit the area and generate recommendations.

"My personal opinion is that there has always been this tradition of early marriages, but the floods have made people very desperate."

In the village of Khan Mohammad Mallah, 45 underage girls have been married since last year's monsoon rains -- 15 of them in May and June this year, the NGO Sujag Sansar told AFP.

The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.

"This has led to a new trend of 'monsoon brides'," said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.


Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.

"Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area," 65-year-old village elder Mai Hajani told AFP.

'Monsoon brides': Extreme weather fuels Pakistan child marriages

Dadu (Pakistan) (AFP) – As monsoon rains were about to break over Pakistan, 14-year-old Shamila and her 13-year-old sister Amina were married off in exchange for money, a decision their parents made to help the family survive the threat of floods.


Issued on: 16/08/2024 -

Shamila (L) was married off in exchange for money, one of a growing number of underage marriages taking place in Pakistan's flood-stricken areas 

© Asif HASSAN / AFP


"I was happy to hear I was getting married... I thought my life would become easier," Shamila told AFP after her wedding to a man twice her age in hope of a more prosperous life.

"But I have nothing more. And with the rain, I fear I will have even less, if that is possible."

Pakistan's high rate of marriages for underage girls had been inching lower in recent years, but after unprecedented floods in 2022, rights workers warn such weddings are now on the rise due to climate-driven economic insecurity.

The summer monsoon between July and September is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security, but scientists say climate change is making them heavier and longer, raising the risk of landslides, floods and long-term crop damage.

Many villages in the agricultural belt of Sindh have not recovered from the 2022 floods, which plunged a third of the country underwater, displaced millions and ruined harvests.

"This has led to a new trend of 'monsoon brides'," said Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of the NGO Sujag Sansar, which works with religious scholars to combat child marriage.

Monsoon floods in Pakistan's Sindh province have devastated the agricultural economy and left families struggling to survive © Asif HASSAN / AFP

"Families will find any means of survival. The first and most obvious way is to give their daughters away in marriage in exchange for money."

Birhmani said since the 2022 floods, child marriage has spiked in villages in Dadu district, one of the worst-hit areas that for months resembled a lake.

In Khan Mohammad Mallah village, where Shamila and Amina were married in a joint ceremony in June, 45 underage girls have become wives since the last monsoon -- 15 of them in May and June this year.

"Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area," said village elder Mai Hajani, 65.

"They would work on the land, make rope for wooden beds, the men would be busy with fishing and agriculture. There was always work to be done".

Parents told AFP that they hurried the marriage of their daughters to save them from poverty, usually in exchange for money.

Shamila's mother-in-law, Bibi Sachal, said they gave 200,000 Pakistan Rupees ($720) to the young bride's parents –- a major sum in a region where most families survive on around one dollar a day.

'I thought I would get lipstick'

Najma Ali, married at just 14, told AFP she had envisioned a better life, only to find herself living at home with her husband and baby © Asif HASSAN / AFP

Najma Ali was initially swept up in the excitement of becoming a wife when she married at 14 in 2022 and began living with her in-laws, as is tradition in Pakistan.

"My husband gave my parents 250,000 rupees for our wedding. But it was on loan (from a third party) that he has no way of paying back now," she said.

"I thought I would get lipstick, makeup, clothes and crockery," she told AFP, cradling her six-month-old baby.

"Now I am back home with a husband and a baby because we have nothing to eat."

Their village, which lies on the banks of a canal in the Main Nara Valley, is barren and there are no fish left in the polluted water -- its stench overwhelms the area.

"We had lush rice fields where girls used to work," said Hakim Zaadi, 58, the village matron and Najma's mother.

"They would grow many vegetables, which are all dead now because the water in the ground is poisonous. This has happened especially after 2022," she added.

"The girls were not a burden on us before then. At the age girls used to get married, they now have five children, and they come back to live with their parents because their husbands are jobless."

'I want to study'

Young Pakistani girls create artwork at the offices of Sujag Sansar, an NGO working to combat child marriages 

© Asif HASSAN / AFP

Child marriages are common in parts of Pakistan, which has the sixth-highest number of girls married before the age of 18 in the world, according to government data published in December.

The legal age for marriage varies from 16 to 18 in different regions, but the law is rarely enforced.

UNICEF has reported "significant strides" in reducing child marriage, but evidence shows that extreme weather events put girls at risk.

"We would expect to see an 18 percent increase in the prevalence of child marriage, equivalent to erasing five years of progress," it said in a report after the 2022 floods.

Dildar Ali Sheikh, 31, had planned to marry off his eldest daughter Mehtab while living in an aid camp after being displaced by the floods.

"When I was there, I thought to myself 'we should get our daughter married so at least she can eat and have basic facilities'," the daily wage labourer told AFP.

Mehtab was just 10 years old.

Village matron Hakim Zaadi (C), mother of a so-called monsoon bride, distributes flatbread to children outside her hut

 © Asif HASSAN / AFP

"The night I decided to get her married, I couldn't sleep," said her mother, Sumbal Ali Sheikh, who was 18 when she married.

An intervention from the NGO Sujag Sansar led to the wedding being postponed, and Mehtab was enrolled in a sewing workshop, allowing her to earn a small income while continuing her education.

But when the monsoon rains fall, she is overcome by dread that her promised wedding will also arrive.

"I have told my father I want to study," she said. "I see married girls around me who have very challenging lives and I don't want this for myself."

© 2024 AFP

CHILD MARRIAGE EN MASSE 
Nigerian mass wedding for orphaned girls provokes outcry

Ben Farmer

TELEGRAPH
Fri, May 17, 2024 

Mass weddings are not uncommon in Nigeria, where brides are dressed in red robes - KOLA SULAIMON/AFP


A mass wedding for 100 girls orphaned by attacks in Nigeria has prompted outcry amid criticism that some of the brides may be underage, or being forced to get married for money.

The ceremony supported by a local politician has been condemned by the national women’s affairs minister who has threatened an injunction to stop the nuptials.

Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the local assembly in north-west Niger state, said the wedding was to help constituents who had all lost relatives to attacks on villages by heavily armed gangs.


Mr Sarkindaji has since distanced himself from the wedding and has said the families must decide among themselves, but local clerics have said it should still go ahead next week.

Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, the federal women’s affairs minister, called the ceremony totally unacceptable and demanded an investigation into the ages of the brides and whether they had consented to marriage.

She said: “I have written a petition to the police ... and I have filed a case for an injunction to stop him from whatever he is planning to do.”
‘Let children be children’

Abiodun Essiet, the president’s senior special assistant on community engagement, also objected.

She said: “I am not against conducting marriage for orphans above 18 years of age if they give their consent to the marriage.

“But I am against under-aged marriage. Let children be children.”

Mass weddings are not uncommon in Nigeria, especially in the mostly Muslim north, where they are seen as a way to help impoverished families manage their expenses.

But underage marriage also happens in rural areas where communities struggle with poverty, insecurity and little access to education.

No details were immediately available on the ages of the orphans.
All wedding expenses paid

In January this year, Muktar Aliyu Betara, another Nigerian politician from Borno state, sponsored a mass wedding for 180 girls from his constituency.

The 17 and 18-year-old girls had lost their parents to jihadist violence.

Mr Betara paid for all the wedding expenses as the families of the brides could not afford the costs.

Mass wedding for Nigeria orphans sparks outcry

Simi Jolaoso - BBC News, Lagos
Fri, May 17, 2024 

Mass weddings are fairly common in northern Nigeria (file photo) [AFP]

The planned mass wedding of about 100 orphans has sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria.

The orphans, some of whom are feared to be underage girls, are set to be married off on 24 May in the north-western state of Niger.

They have all lost parents to attacks by armed bandits, who regularly target civilians across the state.

Nigeria's Women's Affairs Minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye said she has filed a court order to stop the ceremony.

According to reports, the mass wedding was supported by the Speaker of the Niger State Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, who said local religious leaders had approached him for help funding it.

The Imams Forum of Niger have said that the marriage ceremony should go ahead, insisting that the girls are not below the 18 - the legal age of marriage.

However, critics have expressed concern that some girls may be younger than 18, or being forced to comply for financial gain.

Minister Kennedy-Ohanenye said the girls "deserve better" and that her department was looking into who the 100 girls are, their ages and whether they consented to the marriage.

Her department will offer the girls education and training, she said, adding that if the Niger State speaker attempts to block these efforts "there will be a serious legal battle between him and the Ministry of Women Affairs".

On Friday, senior presidential aide Abiodun Essiet reiterated Ms Kennedy-Ohanenye's plan of action.

Ms Essiet added: "My appeal to all stakeholders is to stop embarking on policies and programs that exploit economically handicapped vulnerable people, increase and recycle poverty, and deepen ignorance."

Human rights activists in Nigeria have launched a petition to stop the plan. As of Friday evening, it has 10,500 signatures.

According to international campaign group Girls Not Brides, 30% of girls and 1.6% of boys in Nigeria are married before the age of 18. Some 12% of girls are married before their 15th birthday.

Child marriages are most common in the northern part of the country, among poor, rural households. It is seen as a way to reduce their families’ financial burdens or to improve political and social alliances.

Northern Nigeria is mostly Muslim and religious and cultural norms, such as polygamy, favour the practice.

Why Are Some Republican Lawmakers Hellbent on Preserving Child Marriage?

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IS NOT POLYGAMY

Fistula and child marriages: The two epidemics plaguing Pak women in Gilgit-Baltistan

Seema's battle with fistula unveils the tragedy of early marriage, urging society to confront the intertwined dangers of child marriage and women's health crises.

Shereen Karim

Published May 3, 2024

Seema, a resident of Astore District of Gilgit-Baltistan, received the title, ‘Woman of the Year’, not for her achievements, but for a fate imposed upon her at a tender age: child marriage. One can’t help but wonder how entering into a marriage contract at a tender age warrants this title.

Visibly upset, Seema recounted her story, explaining why she received the honour. Married at the tender age of 13 and diagnosed with vaginal fistula when she was 16 years old, Seema’s existence has since become synonymous with agony.

Every villager, out of pity for her deteriorating health, would visit her, oblivious to the struggle she bore in silence. With no funds for treatment, her father-in-law had even asked the doctor to give her poison — a desperate plea for relief.

Before delving further into Seema’s story, it is important to understand what vaginal fistula is.

The condition occurs when an abnormal passage is created between the vagina and neighbouring pelvic organs like the bladder or rectum. This can lead to numerous complications, including urinary and faecal leakage, abnormal vaginal discharge, tissue damage, kidney infections, and various other symptoms. Doctors warn that untreated fistulas can escalate to reproductive system cancers, potentially even leading to death.

Seema described the pain to be so agonising that she wished for a quick death on several occasions. It’s a stark contrast to the dreams that typically fill the heart of a 16-year-old girl — dreams of a future adorned with aspirations and possibilities. However, Seema found herself teetering on the precipice of despair, grappling with the grim reality of her life-long disease.

It only makes sense for her to be called the ‘Woman of the Year,’ doesn’t it? Her journey isn’t merely reflective of the far-reaching consequences of fistula but is also a testament to the devastating consequences of child marriage.

Perils of child marriage

According to a Unicef report an estimated 18 per cent of young girls are wed before reaching adulthood [18 years of age], amounting to almost 19 million child brides in the country. The number of unreported instances is believed to be even higher.

As per the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), Pakistan has the sixth highest number of women married before the age of 18 in the world.

The adverse impacts of early marriage are manifold, encompassing the deteriorating health of the young bride, high-risk pregnancy, and impediments to both her education and personal growth. Moreover, in developing countries such as Pakistan, the unregulated cycle of childbirth places a heavy financial strain on parents, as they struggle to support multiple children, ultimately perpetuating poverty within these families.

Despite tireless global campaigns and legal enforcement in these countries, the insidious practice of child marriage persists. This prevalence is fuelled by a glaring lack of awareness regarding the severe repercussions of such unions, amplifying the issue.

The plight of girls under 18 is particularly dire, as depicted in Seema’s case. Her story serves as a stark reminder of the health complications faced by these young brides face. From debilitating conditions like fistula to a myriad of other ailments, many women are condemned to a lifetime of anguish. While some manage to recover through treatment, others suffer without ever experiencing improvement in their health.

What medical experts say

Dr Sajjad Ahmed, who offers free treatment to patients at Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi, said that a significant number of women travel long distances from remote areas to seek treatment at the hospital located in the port city’s Bin Qasim Town. This reality underscores the inadequacy of basic facilities accessible to women in Pakistan.

At the other end of the country, Dr Sher Shah and his dedicated team annually organise medical camps in Gilgit, offering treatment and performing surgeries for fistula patients free of cost. While minor cases receive care at City Hospital Gilgit, those requiring more intensive procedures are referred to Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi.

Dr Sher Shah mentioned how the hospital serves patients not only from across the country but also extends care to individuals from Afghanistan, Iran, Sharjah, and Yemen. Drawing patients from the farthest corners of Sindh, Punjab, Chitral, and Gilgit-Baltistan, including the remote locales of Skardu, Diamir, and Ghizar, individuals recover under their expertise. The hospital has provided free surgeries to almost 40 patients from Gilgit-Baltistan alone.

Despite the invaluable services rendered, the absence of more specialised hospitals for the condition remains a gap in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, he added.

Dr Nazneen Zamir Farooqi, a gynaecologist at City Hospital Gilgit, gets patients from remote areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, including Diamer, Astor, Skardu, Kharmang, Darel, and Ghizar. In many of these regions, the scarcity of healthcare facilities and the absence of skilled attendants during childbirth worsen the problem.

“The pervasive practice of child marriage significantly contributes to this crisis. When young girls are married off, their bodies are ill-equipped for childbirth — a biological reality — as physical maturity is typically achieved post-puberty,” she explained. Consequently, girls under 18 years face heightened risks of complications, and if they contract fistula, their suffering is only magnified.

The impact on women

Throughout pregnancy and childbirth, the absence of adequate treatment can result in a spectrum of deformities in women’s bodies, often leading to the onset of debilitating diseases. Among these, fistula stands out as one of the most distressing, inflicting not only physical discomfort but also profound psychological and social ramifications.

Girls married off at a young age have underdeveloped bodies and fragile bones. If they undergo childbirth before their bodies have fully matured, they are at risk of developing fistula. Similarly, older women who have borne numerous children may experience weakened muscles, rendering them incapable of delivering the baby during childbirth. In some cases, it may also lead them to develop this condition.

In both scenarios, giving birth to a child becomes an excruciating process for the woman, wherein the pressure exerted by the baby’s head against the muscles between the bladder and the vagina may result in the formation of a fistula. In many cases, the babies are stillborn. Without immediate medical intervention, the affected woman is condemned to endure the pain.

What does the Child Marriage Act say?

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, a federal law in Pakistan in alignment with international conventions on children’s rights, unequivocally condemns a marriage involving a girl under 16 years of age and a boy under 18 years of age as a violation of fundamental rights. Although each province in Pakistan has established its own regulations, in the absence of specific provincial guidelines, national law takes precedence.

Any breach of this law carries severe penalties, including imprisonment for up to six months and fines reaching up to Rs50,000, meant to serve as a deterrent against such grave infringements.

As per the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2016-17, the prevalence of child marriages in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially in areas such as Chilas, Darel, Tangir, and Kharmang, stands alarmingly high, soaring to approximately 26pc. Despite concerted efforts to tackle the issue, including the introduction of legislation in 2015, progress has been hindered by opposition within the legislative assembly, leading to delays in its enactment.

While the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 is in place, its enforcement in these regions falls well short of the mark. And without a legal mandate imposing age restrictions, many see no obligation to adhere to the law. Subsequently, the absence of robust legislation and effective enforcement mechanisms perpetuates the cycle of child marriages, leaving the issue entirely unresolved.

It’s time to break the cycle

Child marriage is not merely a tradition; it has a direct bearing on human health and development. While marriage may bring a sense of satisfaction for many, it also entails significant responsibilities, demanding mental, physical, and financial preparedness. Experts argue that minors lack the maturity essential for a thriving marriage, posing potential health risks.

We cannot afford the luxury of complacency while the innocence of our children is sacrificed at the altar of an archaic practice. It falls upon each of us, as guardians of our collective conscience, to demand comprehensive legislation that will dismantle the structures perpetuating child marriages.

For the sake of our daughters and sons, for the preservation of their health, dignity, and dreams, we must act decisively. The time for rhetoric has passed; it is now time for action.

Header image — taken from Reuters

Shereen Karim is a freelance journalist from Gilgit-Baltistan. She has worked with local and international media platforms.

War in Kosovo and sexual violence, a painful legacy




©HTWE/Shutterstock


In Kosovo, thousands of people suffered sexual violence during the war: today institutions recognise them as civilian victims of the conflict, but for many talking about the trauma they suffered remains an insurmountable obstacle
26/04/2024 - Arta Berisha Pristina

"Unheard Voices" is a memoir that collects untold stories of men and boys, as young as 14, who were raped during the war in Kosovo.

Even though they have not yet spoken publicly, at least ten men raped by Serbian forces during the war told their tragic stories to civil society organisations that support survivors of wartime sexual violence. This confirms that sexual violence as a weapon of war does not target only women and girls.

"I have a certain shadow, a certain ice in my soul, I can't take it away, because what they have done to me doesn't hurt anymore, the pain has passed, but my soul is ice cold", writes one of the witnesses in the book, a survivor who was only 14 at the time.

The book was presented at the Women Peace Security Forum , organised by the President of Kosovo in Prishtina last week, as part of an awareness campaign dedicated to survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo which started on April 14, the Memorial Day for victims of sexual violence during the war.

The number of survivors is estimated up to 20,000 including women, girls, men and boys. However, few have spoken up publicly, mainly because of social norms and taboos that still dominate Kosovo's society, especially when it comes to acknowledging rape as a war crime instead of shaming the victims.

Likewise, very few victims had their status recognised by the Government Commission on Recognition and Verification of the Status of Sexual Violence Victims during the Kosovo liberation war, created in 2017 .

Deadlines

At the very beginning, the time limit for applications was five years, the same as the duration of the Commission's mandate. Last year, this term expired, but the Kosovo government decided to extend it for another two years, namely until May 15, 2025, due to the small number of applications.

At the Peace Forum, Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu said that 1555 people, including 88 men, have had their status recognised by the Commission so far.

"It is estimated that in Kosovo, about 20,000 thousand people were raped during the war; together with the President and Prime Minister, we are working to encourage them to apply for recognition, because it is not their fault that they have been sexually abused".

Civil society organisations believe that the government should not put a deadline to applications.

"Taking into account the specific nature of crimes of sexual violence, the peculiarities of the trauma, the difficulties of documentation, the stigma and exclusion surrounding the victims both in the family and in the community they live in, as well as other international practices, we as an organisation have constantly advocated that the right to apply should be a permanent right guaranteed by law", Feride Rushiti, Executive Director of the Kosovo Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims, told OBCT.

According to some sources speaking to OBCT, decision-makers hoped that a deadline would motivate survivors to apply. Unfortunately, this was not the case. According to an electronic answer by the Commission, since the beginning of the process on 05.02.2018, the Commission has received 2028 applications.

Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman became the first woman to speak out publicly, first on public TV in 2018 and then on several other platforms. When she was only 16, she was abducted by a Serbian police officer and raped by him and another civilian in a village nearby her home.

"I believe there is no need to put deadlines on this", she said to OBCT, adding that she is in permanent contact with the victims, and some of them told her that their husbands have died and now they are ready to apply.

Krasniqi Goodman also asked the Kosovo Government to reconsider all the applications that the Commission has refused as not completed due to the difficulties victims have 25 years after the crime to testify about what really happened.

Niger’s Military Coup Triggers Child Marriages, Sex Work in Neighboring Countries

By Issa Sikiti da Silvail

Girl refugees from Niger now living in Benin, often end up as child brides. Graphic: IPS

COTONOU/BENIN , Apr 26 2024 (IPS) - A group of young girls aged between 15 and 17 sit tight, following attentively a lesson being taught by a Mualim (Islamic teacher) in a makeshift madrassah (Qur’anic school) located in one of the impoverished townships of Benin’s economic capital, Cotonou. They arrived in Benin recently, fleeing poverty, hunger, climate change, and rising insecurity in their home country, Niger, in the aftermath of the military coup that toppled democratically-elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

Among them are Saida, 15, and Aminata, 16, who are already “married” to Abdou, 22, and Anwar, 25, two Niger youths who have been living in Benin for some time. The lessons are over and Saida heads outside the overcrowded compound where her husband, Abdou, came to pick up his wife on a rundown motorbike.

“She has not been feeling well lately and I think she might be pregnant,” Abdou says without embarrassment. Asked about the circumstances leading to the couple becoming husband and wife, he says: “If in Benin or where you come from, this seems strange, it is normal in Niger for a young girl to become someone’s wife as soon as she reaches 15.”

Niger has one of highest prevalence rates of child marriages in the world, where 76% of girls are married before their 18th birthday and 28% are married before the age of 15, according to Girls Not Brides figures.

Child marriage is most prevalent in Maradi (where 89% of women aged 20–24 were already married by age of 18), Zinder (87%), Diffa (82%) and Tahoua (76%). Girls as young as 10 years old in some regions are married, and after the age of 25, only a handful of young women are unmarried, according to the Girls Not Brides statistics.

Steady increase 

However, Abdou says there has been a steady increase in such cases since the military coup due to the social and economic meltdown triggered by regional and international sanctions, which left Niger’s economy hanging in balance. France, a former colonial power, suspended development and budget aid to Niger, vowing not to recognize the new military authorities. In 2021, The French Development Agency (AFD) committed €97 million to Niger.  Moreover, the World Bank recently warned that 700,000 more people will fall into extreme poverty this year in Niger. In addition, nearly two million children could be out of school, including 800,000 girls.

Multiple suspensions of development aid from several countries and organizations will result in a shortfall of nearly US$1.2 billion in 2024 (more than 6% of the country’s GDP).

“Life has become unlivable since the coup and the closure of borders. In addition, insecurity has risen, forcing farmers to stay away from their fields. In other parts, climate change has rendered farmland useless; it is a triple tragedy for Niger, but the authorities continue to talk nonsense on TV,” says a Benin-based Islamic teacher identified only as Oumarou, who fled to Cotonou in the aftermath of the coup.

“And as a result, many families are left penniless and dependent on humanitarian assistance. Consequently, some families are seeking help from their relatives and family friends living in Benin and Togo to take their daughters under their care. Niger’s people help each other a lot and prioritize community life over individual interests.

“The girls arrive in these two countries and are quickly dispatched to Niger’s households, where they work as domestic workers without pay. Yes, they don’t get paid because they eat and sleep there and are made to feel as if they are part of the family.”

However, Oumarou says that as time goes by, these people begin to feel that they can no longer carry the burden. That is where they pass a message through the elders to Niger youths who want a wife to come and discuss.

Suitors wanted 

“As soon as a suitor is found, we inform the girls’ parents, who, in most cases, do not hesitate to allow the marriage to proceed. As God-fearing people, we cannot let the youth take a girl without doing a formal religious ceremony.

Asked if he was aware that he was committing a crime by acting as an accomplice to child marriages, he became defensive and politicized the issue: “What’s criminal and illegal in that procedure? How can you describe our good gesture to help these poverty-stricken girls rebuild their lives as a crime?

“Okay, if it’s indeed a crime. How do you say about France, which has been stealing our natural resources, notably our uranium, for decades without giving us anything in return? And what about the crimes committed by the West during the colonial era in Africa? Did anyone investigate those crimes and bring the perpetrators to book or make reparations for what they did?” the man said, storming out of the room where the interview was taking place.

However, not everyone in Niger is God-fearing and therefore does not follow the religious procedure. Anwar says her wife told him that she owes him her life after rescuing her from the abusive family where she was working as a donkey.

“I have been taking care of her ever since as a wife and a little sister. I don’t need anyone’s permission or blessings to make her my wife. We have been living under the same roof since last year and that’s a sign of marriage,” he says with a wide smile.

Aminata describes the hell she went through while working for one of these families. “They make you work like a slave, right from Fajr [Islamic dawn prayer] up to Isha [evening prayer] and even beyond. It’s very stressful. Most of the time, you don’t even eat well. They keep yelling at you whenever you make a slight mistake. Anwar is a good man and a caring husband,” she says through a translator.

Anwar says most of these girls do not have a formal (western) education. “That’s why they cannot understand French. They only speak their vernacular language and some Arabic because they only attend Qur’anic school.”

Niger has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world, and very few girls attend formal school, as priority is given to boys. The Niger literacy rate for 2021 was 37.34%, a 2.29% increase from 2018.

Factors that contribute to this, including high dropout rates, high illiteracy rates, insufficient resources and infrastructure, unqualified teachers, weak local governance structures, and high vulnerability to instability, have been blamed for the low level of educational attainment, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“I want to ensure that she gets a good education now that she is in Benin, far away from that rotten country, where the system does not allow girls, especially in the rural areas, to attend school,” Anwar, who himself did not finish high school, says.

Niger girls no longer “God-fearing”? 

While child brides jostle for makeshift husbands to take care of them away from their impoverished and famine-hit country, in other parts of Benin, street life has become the way of survival for some Niger women. “Niger men used to mock us, saying that their women were God-fearing and not immoral like us. Now the trend has been reversed. Look at the way those two Niger girls out there are shoving for a wealthy client,” Susan, a Beninese sex worker, says.

She claims the girls arrive in the “workplace” every evening well covered from head to toe but take it off and put on some sexy clothes, only to wear them again after the end of the shift. “Now, who fears God the most? The hypocrites or the people like us who have nothing to hide?”

Prostitution is illegal but remains prevalent in big cities and near major mining and military sites. UNAIDS estimates there are 46,630 sex workers in the country. Some sources say poverty, forced marriages, rising insecurity, and climate change continue to push many girls into prostitution, sometimes with the complicity of their families and marabouts (witchdoctors).

A source close to Nigerian and Ivorian pimping syndicates says there is a huge appetite for Niger girls in several countries across the region, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Ghana. Asked why it is the case, the source says: “From what I heard, girls from other countries, including Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria, have been used many times and are big-headed, while Niger girls seem fresh, disciplined, respectful, and docile. That’s why they make good wives. The demand has been growing since the coup.”

The source says the three countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) desire to quit the regional bloc, Ecowas, will have a negative effect on the sex trafficking business as it will curtail the free movement of people and goods across the region. According to a 2022 report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), women and girls constitute 69% of victims and survivors of trafficking in Niger.

While Niger’s military authorities reinforce their grip on power and castigate the West’s neo-colonialist and imperialist attitude and Ecowas’ interference in Niger’s internal affairs, life seems to be getting harder in this uranium-producing West African nation, forcing thousands of underage girls and women to seek a better life elsewhere.

A researcher who recently returned to Benin from Niger says: “You must live in Niger right now to understand what is going on there. Forget what you see on state TV. If residents of the big cities, like the capital Niamey, are trying harder to stay alive, many people are hopeless in the countryside because the humanitarian situation is terrific.

“Those who say development aid does not work are lying because they have never been on the ground to see for themselves.”

Note: The names have been changed to protect their identities.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape - Frauenkultur

... Against. Our Will. Men, Women and Rape. SUSAN BROWNMILLER. Fawcett Columbine • New York. Page 5. Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If ...

Guilty plea by leader of polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border is at risk of being thrown out

This photo shows Hildale, Utah, sitting at the base of Red Rock Cliff mountains, with its sister city, Colorado City, Ariz., in the foreground, Dec. 16, 2014. The guilty plea of Samuel Bateman, the leader of a polygamous sect in the Colorado City-Hildale area who is accused in a scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children, is at risk of being thrown out due to an unmet condition of his plea deal that hinged on whether other charged in the case also would plead guilty. Prosecutors informed the court, Thursday, April 11, 2024, that two other men charged in the case had rejected plea offers.

 (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)


By The Associated Press
Posted April 12, 2024

PHOENIX (AP) — A guilty plea by the leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border is at risk of being thrown out due to an unmet condition of his deal that hinged on whether others charged in the case also would plead guilty.

Under the terms of Samuel Bateman’s deal, prosecutors can — but aren’t required to — withdraw his guilty plea, after two other men charged in the case rejected plea offers and are now headed to trial.

Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet who took more than 20 wives, including 10 girls under age 18, pleaded guilty this month to charges of kidnapping and conspiring to transport underage girls across state lines in what authorities say was a yearslong scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix declined on Friday to say whether it will withdraw Bateman’s plea.

“We have yet to see it. It’s not on the docket,” Bateman’s attorney, Myles Schneider, said when asked about the matter. He declined to comment further.

Hearings are scheduled Monday and Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich over the offers that were rejected by Bateman’s co-defendants.

Bateman’s plea agreement recommends a prison sentence of 20 to 50 years, though one of his convictions carries a possible maximum sentence of life.

In his plea, Bateman, 48, acknowledged taking underage brides, having sex activity with them and arranging group sex, sometimes involving child brides.

Authorities say Bateman created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which historically has been based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

He and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. Bateman and his followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.



The Associated Press

Bengal: Underage Marriage a Crisis in Jangal Mahal Areas

Adolescent girls, both in school and those who have dropped out, are particularly vulnerable in this scenario. They are often seen as burdens by their families and are consequently married off at a young age.

A woman who was married when she was below 18.

Madhu Sudan Chatterjee | 15 Mar 2024

Amidst the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022 and the halt in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) work in rural areas, families in Bengal's Jangal Mahal areas are facing exacerbated financial strains.

Adolescent girls, both in school and those who have dropped out, are particularly vulnerable in this scenario. They are often seen as burdens by their families and are consequently married off at a young age. The widespread use of smartphones further compounds their plight, as unrestricted access to social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram exposes them to various dangers. Many underage girls, driven by illusion or coercion, run away from home to get married. Subsequently, they face extreme physical and mental crises due to financial pressures and unforeseen social hazards.

Despite initiatives like the Kanyashree Prokolpo, aimed at incentivising education for teenage girls, underage marriages continue unabated, particularly in Bankura and Purulia Districts of Bengal's Jangal Mahal. Local panchayats' failure to take effective action despite being aware of these incidents raises questions about their role. Moreover, the concerned state government department often remains uninformed about underage marriages, rendering them virtually helpless in addressing the issue.



A girl who has dropped out of school grazing her field

Marriage at an underage, below 18 years, exposes adolescent girls to health risks, including premature maternal deaths and increased infant mortality rates. Surviving mothers and children suffer from severe malnutrition and anaemia due to inadequate nutrition. With families lacking stable incomes in both paternal and in-law households, the tragic consequences of underage marriages are spreading across vast areas of the two districts.

Over time, this phenomenon is rapidly worsening, becoming an accepted norm in these areas. Urgent intervention is necessary to address the root causes of underage marriages and protect the rights and well-being of adolescent girls.
What Circumstances Lead Girls to Underage Marriages?

"Last year, I passed the Madhyamik (secondary education) exam with 412 marks. I studied at Bandowan Girls High School in Purulia District. In 2022, while I was studying in the 10th standard, my father married me and my younger sister simultaneously. My sister was in the ninth grade at the same school. We are four sisters, and our father is a migrant labourer. We were married into a family where my sister and I now have two sons. Unfortunately, we struggle to provide sufficient breast milk for both children. Additionally, my husband and brother-in-law lack stable employment," says Mithu Shabar (name changed), reflecting on her situation.

The marriage took place in Sayerberia village of Hatogram Panchayat under the Indpur Block of Bankura District. She recalled, "Our paternal house is in Bandudoba village of Bandowan Block, Purulia, where many girls from my paternal home village were married off while still in school."

Sayer Beria village, located 203 kilometres from Kolkata under the Indpur Block, Bankura, is home to 32 families belonging to the Shabor primitive tribal community. Despite holding government job cards, most families are deprived of work under the MGNREGA scheme and struggle with extreme malnutrition.

Shisu Sabar, a resident of this village, alleges that Panchayat members affiliated with the Trinamool Congress seldom visit the village. The villagers subsist on whatever they can gather, including snakes and field mice, as they live in dilapidated houses. Despite repeated attempts to seek assistance from the panchayat, they have yet to receive any housing assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Kalpana Sabar reveals that girls in her village are married off between the ages of 14-15. Similarly, brides coming from outside the village are also below the age of 18. Several housewives, including Mithu, Sakuntola, and Puja Sabar (name changed), reveal that they venture into the forest every morning to collect white stones, which they sell for Rs 12/basket. Due to their weakened health, they can only lift a maximum of five baskets, often leaving their children unattended in the fields. Most women in the village age prematurely, and their vitality diminishes with each passing day.

According to the National Health Survey 5, the prevalence of women aged 20-24 years marrying at 18 years old remains high in Bengal at 41.6%, compared to the national figure of 23.3%. This statistic is even higher in the Jangal Mahal area. In most cases, underage marriages go unreported and unaddressed, leading to dire consequences when they come to light.

Currently, residents in these areas face limited opportunities for education and decent work. Despite the enactment of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006), the practice of marrying off young girls persists, fuelled by a socio-economic spectrum rife with structural inequalities and regressive social norms. Several student hostels and Madhyamik Shiksha Kendras (grades 5-8) have shuttered in the Jangal Mahal area, where girls once pursued their education.

Previously, hostel grants were credited directly to school accounts, but now they are deposited into the beneficiaries' accounts, often delayed. Many students fail to transfer these funds to their schools upon leaving, leading to financial crises and subsequent closures of several hostels. Some hostels now operate at reduced capacity, accommodating only 5-15 students to maintain government register records, while others have ceased operation altogether.

Sarbani Mahato, 16 (name changed), shared her story.

"I attended Ranibandh Girls' School until eighth grade, but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and schools closed, I ceased my studies. Within three years, many of my female classmates were married off. When schools reopened two years ago, my migrant labourer father insisted I no longer needed an education. I was then engaged in tending to cows and goats on a farm, and I am set to marry within two months, arrangements finalised with the groom's family."

A few months ago, a migrant worker returned to his native village of Kulyam under Rudra Gram Panchayat in Ranibandh Block, Bankura, seeking to arrange a marriage for his 15-year-old daughter. Intervention from the childcare unit of Bankura prevented the marriage. The worker, residing elsewhere, expressed concern for his three adolescent daughters left unprotected at home. Despite this, numerous young girls in the village are already married, often overlooked by the community.

The root cause of this resurgence in underage marriage lies in the lack of local employment opportunities, predating the COVID-19 pandemic, which has driven many residents of Bankura and Purulia districts to seek migrant work across the country. As MGNREGA work has ceased, many are forced to migrate again, including a significant number of school dropouts. Trains departing from Purulia to Chennai weekly are primarily filled with migrant workers.



Campaigning by MANT against underage marriage at a fair in Bankura Aketswar

Chandidas Mukherjee, Secretary of Mallabhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust (MANT), emphasised that the resurgence of underage marriages stems from poverty and financial insecurity. He noted a loss of common sense in the face of extreme poverty, burdening families with daughters, sentiments echoed by Janhobi Majhi, a schoolteacher at Bishnupur High School.

She observed, "At 13 years old, families begin seeking grooms for their daughters. Poverty, coupled with societal expectations, dictates these decisions, irrespective of caste or income. Unfortunately, the autonomy of the girl's choice is often disregarded in these matters."

In 2009, the world became familiar with the name Jhalda, located in the Purulia District, when a 13-year-old girl named Rekhe Kalindi bravely spoke out against underage marriage. Her courage earned her the prestigious bravery award from the then President of India, Pratibha Patil. Kalindi was hailed as a messenger of social change, and Jhalda became a beacon of hope. However, in the last five years, the incidence of underage marriage has surged in the Kotshila and Joypur areas of the Jhalda subdivision.

The West Bengal state government launched the Kanyashree Prokalpo in 2013 to counteract this troubling trend. This initiative aims to incentivise the education of teenage girls aged 13-18 while simultaneously discouraging underage marriage.

According to the state budget, the scheme has benefitted 81 lakh female students and garnered international recognition with the United Public Service Award in 2017. Under this project, girls from standard eight receive Rs 1000/year. If they remain unmarried until the age of 18, they receive Rs 25,000. Additionally, upon reaching 18 years of age, if they marry, they are entitled to another Rs 25,000 under the 'Ruposhree' project.

Despite these efforts, many schoolgirls in the Jangal Mahal areas of Bankura and Purulia are getting married while still studying in ninth or tenth standards, below the legal age of 18. They obtain unmarried certificates from the local panchayat to claim the Rs 25,000 incentive meant for remaining unmarried until they are 18. Even when their marriages are known, there is little recourse, as the pressure from parents and panchayat compels authorities to disburse the funds. Allegations suggest that political motivations influence these decisions, particularly by the TMC and BJP-run panchayats.

The unchecked use of smartphones poses additional risks, as many students engage in love relationships through social media and may marry without informing their families, sometimes even resorting to elopement. Those who marry and move to their in-laws' homes often face disillusionment if their husbands are unable to provide financially, forcing them into labour. In many cases, the parents of these girls sever ties, leaving them to suffer from immense mental anguish.

Sukumar Paine, the State Secretary of the All Bengal Teacher Association, noted the cessation of the 'Jibon Shoyli' (lifestyle) subject during the Trinamool government's tenure. This subject previously taught students how to maintain mental and physical well-being during adolescence.

The state government's initiative to provide Rs 10,000 for purchasing smartphones to students who have passed class 11 during the COVID-19 lockdown raises questions about the efficacy of these devices for educational purposes.

Underage marriage often leads to tragic consequences, with many young mothers and their children losing their lives due to complications during childbirth.

Dr Srimanta De, a gynaecologist in Bankura, highlighted the risks associated with childbirth in underage mothers. Additionally, Sajal Shing, an officer of the Child Care Unit in Bankura District, emphasised the importance of prompt intervention and legal action in cases of attempted underage marriage. Organisations like MANT Bankura actively engage in awareness campaigns to prevent such marriages.

The writer covers the Jangal Mahal region for ‘Ganashakti’ newspaper in West Bengal

PHOTO ESSAY

 Syria's Al-Hol camp: child inmates and false identities

Paris (AFP) – The al-Hol camp is the largest of two in northeastern Syria holding the families of Islamic State fighters.

LONG READ

Issued on: 18/03/2024

A girl walks through the al-Hol Islamic State camp in northeastern Syria 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP


Run by US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), its population spiked at more than 70,000 as the coalition began tightening its grip on the last IS holdout in Baghouz late in 2018.

Iraqis have always been "the dominant nationality" in the camp, with their numbers at one time reaching 30,000, according to Doctors Without Borders.

At its height, 11,000 "foreign" women and children -- that is non-Syrian or Iraqi -- were held there.

After the defeat of the "caliphate" in March 2019, countries across the world slowly began repatriating their nationals. Many Europeans were transferred to Roj, a smaller and better-kept camp close to the Turkish border that today holds 2,500 people, more than 2,140 of them foreign.

The sprawling 320-hectare al-Hol holds more than 43,000 people from 47 countries including France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey and Tunisia -- 21,500 of them children, according to the latest figures.

Iraqis are the biggest group (20,144), followed by Syrians (16,710). Two thirds of the 6,612 "foreigners" are children under 17, according to the camp administration.
13-year-old brides

Kurdish security forces and the SDF guard the camp, with a Kurdish civil administration overseeing the camp. Dozens of United Nations agencies and international and local NGOs provide health, water, sanitation, education and protection services.

Women walk past a dress shop in the Iraqi and Syrian sector of the al-Hol camp © Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

But the camp's overall management is handled by the US group Blumont paid for by the US State Department, with France also funding some humanitarian assistance and improvements to the infrastructure.

The camp is divided into two parts. Syrians and Iraqis live in the main camp, with "foreigners" held in the high-security "annex" that is cut off from the main camp.

Camp officials say many of the foreigners have not revealed their nationalities or given false ones.

Many marriages in the main camp -- where some 3,000 men live -- are to minors, including girls as young as 13, according to humanitarian workers.

Since the Kurdish-led administration does not recognise child marriage, they are not registered, nor are their children.
Two girls point to the sky -- a gesture often used by Islamic State -- in the al-Hol camp in Syria where the families of IS fighters are held © Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Many men take second wives. These marriages are also not recognised. As a result, the camp "bursts with unregistered children", a humanitarian worker said.

© 2024 AFP

Sins of the fathers: Children of IS left to rot in Syria camp

Al-Hol Camp (Syria) (AFP) – Ali is 12 and has survived things no child should see, spending half his life in what amounts to a prison camp for jihadist families in an arid corner of northeastern Syria.


Issued on: 18/03/2024 - 

Child of the caliphate: A girl in the vast al-Hol Islamic State camp in northeastern Syria 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
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He knows not to dream of freedom. Instead he fantasises about having a football. "Can you get me one?" he said, as if he was asking for the Moon.

Five years after the fall of the Islamic State group's brutal "caliphate", tens of thousands of women and children linked to the jihadists are still being held by the US-backed Kurdish forces in camps rife with violence and abuse, with seemingly no clear plan of what to do with them.

More than 40,000 inmates -- half of them children -- are cooped up behind the barbed wire fences and watchtowers of the windswept al-Hol camp run by Washington's Kurdish allies.

The children of the jihadists' failed project live out a grim existence in tattered, tightly packed together tents with little water and limited access to sanitation. Few go to school.

Many have never seen a television or tasted ice cream.

Some boys are taken from their mothers by the guards once they reach 11 in violation of international law, a UN expert found, with the Kurdish authorities claiming it is to stop them being radicalised.

They admit the jihadists still exercise control in parts of the camp through fear, punishments and even murder.

One former inmate told AFP that IS paid pensions to some widows.

Even Ali is old enough to be terrified of them. "They enter tents at night and kill people," he said.

"It's not a life for children... they are paying the price for something they didn't do," an aid worker told AFP.

The al-Hol camp ballooned as the coalition and its allies in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) closed in on IS's last bastion in eastern Syria, putting an end to their five-year reign of terror marked by beheadings, rapes, massacres and enslavement.

Women in niqabs walk past a fence at the al-Hol camp in Syria where thousands of families of Islamic State fighters are still held 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

When the extremists were finally defeated in March 2019, families of suspected jihadists were trucked north to al-Hol from the last holdout in Baghouz.

Five years on, dozens of countries are still refusing to take back their nationals with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi -- whose soldiers guard the Western-funded camp -- calling it "a ticking time bomb".

– 'Acute deprivation' -

AFP interviewed IS widows, aid workers, security forces and administration employees in the difficult to access camp, including inside the high-security "annex", the camp within a camp where "foreign" and more radical women and their children from 45 countries are held apart from the "local" Syrians and Iraqis.

Some asked not to be named for fear of what might happen to them.

To complicate matters, some 3,000 men are held with the women and children in the Syrian and Iraqi sector of the camp. Some are ordinary refugees, but suspicion lingers over others detained by Kurdish fighters as the caliphate collapsed.

Not even the guards venture into the rows of tents at night unless they are carrying out a raid.

The huge dusty camp -- first built for refugees fleeing the wars in Iraq and Syria -- dwarfs the nearby town of al-Hol, with its small houses and narrow streets.

The vast Al-Hol camp in Syria holds more than 40,000 people -- all but 3,000 women and children © Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Its thousands of white tents are crammed so closely together that it is almost impossible to walk between them without bumping into something.

Privacy is nonexistent, with the communal kitchens and toilets squalid and insufficient, say humanitarian workers who provide some basic services on top of the food aid on which the inmates survive.

Behind the camp's high fences, kids roam dirt roads, bored and frustrated, some throwing stones at visitors. A blond boy blinked at the camera and then drew his finger across his throat to mimic a beheading.

Most children do not go to the makeshift schools. Instead they try to earn a little by carrying water, cleaning or fixing tents for those whose families wire them money.

Others work in the camp's market, or trade their food aid.

"Al-Hol is a suffocating place for children to live and grow-up," said Kathryn Achilles from Save the Children.

They "have endured acute deprivation, bombardment and have now been in the camp for almost five years. They need more," she said.
'We'll be left here'

"How can our children dream if they've never seen the outside world?" a mother of five held in the high-security annex reserved for foreign women and their children told AFP.

A girl walks behind her mother through the vast al-Hol camp in northeastern

 Syria © Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Two thirds of the annex's 6,612 inmates are children, according to the camp's administrators.

The 39-year-old gave birth to her youngest child in al-Hol after fleeing Baghouz in 2019 after her husband -- an IS fighter -- was killed there.

Like all of the women in the camp, she was covered head-to-toe in a niqab and black gloves, a thin slit in the face covering showing her wide, dark eyes.

Although the niqab is banned in the smaller Roj camp holding IS members' families close to the Turkish border, women in al-Hol told AFP they would not dare to take it off, fearing punishment from hardliners.

"It is a bitter life, and what's worse, they say we'll be left here," the mother lamented, with the authorities starting to build new sections where each tent will have its own toilet and kitchen.

Jihan Hanan, the head of the camp's civil administration, confirmed that the work was being done "because the camp may be in place for the long term".

She admitted life was "difficult for residents, but it's also difficult for us given the security situation."

Murder and sexual abuse

But it is what is happening to the children that most worries humanitarian organisations.

In 2022, two Egyptian girls, aged 12 and 15, were murdered in the annex, their throats cut and their bodies dumped in an open septic tank.

Rana, a Syrian girl, was shot in the face and shoulder in 2022 by armed men who accused her of having a child out of wedlock when she was 18.

"They kidnapped me for 11 days and hit me with chains," she told AFP.

Other children are being sexually abused and harassed, a health worker told AFP. In three months in 2021, she treated 11 cases of child sexual abuse.

A girl hugs her mother at the al-Hol camp in Syria where the families of IS fighters are held 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Some cases were children abusing other children. "They may not know they are hurting each other," she said, adding that a child who abuses is likely to have been a either a victim of sexual assault or witness to it.

Children in al-Hol have seen or heard murders as well as "shootings, stabbings and strangulations on their way to buy food from the marketplace or while on their way to school," Save the Children said in a 2022 report on the camp.

The trauma triggers sleeping disorders, bed-wetting and aggressive behaviour, it said.

"I try not to let my kids socialise to keep them out of harm, but it is almost impossible because the camp is packed," said Shatha, an Iraqi mother-of-five.

"Every time my kids go out, they come back beaten."

Yet keeping children confined to their tents was tantamount to holding them "in a prison inside a prison", a social worker told AFP.
'Coming for my son'

Every mother AFP spoke to in al-Hol -- particularly those in the annex -- were terrified about their boys being taken from them and sent to "rehabilitation centres" by the guards.

The high-security camp within a camp contains women from 45 countries including France, the Netherlands and Sweden, with large numbers from Turkey, Tunisia, Russia, the Caucasus and the Central Asian republics.

Security forces regularly take boys over 11 from the annex in night raids or sweeps of the marketplace, a policy a UN expert condemned as "forced arbitrary separation".

Boys in the 'foreign' section of the camp are removed from their mothers aged 11 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

Zeinab, an Egyptian mother, said her 13-year-old son was taken away from her a year ago. Now she worries it will soon be her 11-year-old's turn.

"I can't sleep at night. When I hear sounds outside, I fear they are coming for my son," she said.

Some mothers hide their boys from the guards in holes and trenches or prevent them from going outside.

"Some boys may have turned 20, but we don't know where they are hiding," a member of the security forces admitted.

Authorities say they take the boys to protect them from "sexual abuse" and a "radicalised" environment.

The Pentagon told AFP that it was aware that some youths were removed "to both youth centres and detention facilities" but said "we keep the well-being of children at the centre of our policies and encourage local authorities to ensure their actions consider the best interests of children."

IS cells

Kurdish forces have long warned about IS cells in the camp, with a spike in murders, arson and escape attempts in 2019. Rifles, ammunition and tunnels have also been found in regular security sweeps.

A Syrian woman who fled the camp in mid-2019 recalled how an IS member known as Abu Mohamed would visit widows monthly and pay them $300 to $500.

Diehard: A woman in the Al-Hol camp points to the sky -- a gesture long associated with the Islamic State

 © Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

"He used to come in a security forces uniform and promise that the group will return," she said.

In the annex's squalid marketplace, women pore over the few available pieces of meat through the slits in their niqabs, while others haul away bottles of water and rugs in three-wheeled carts or on makeshift sleds made from cardboard attached to a rope.

Seeing journalists, some raised a gloved index finger to the sky, a gesture frequently used by IS signifying the "oneness of God".

While many women are repentant, others don't hide their continued allegiance to IS.

IS "are still here, and they have a stronger presence in certain sectors of the camp," according to Abou Khodor, a 26-year-old Iraqi man who has been in the camp for seven years.

He complained that diehards from IS's last bastion in Baghouz had "ruined" the camp. But one of the women captured there said it was more complex.
'Death does not scare us'

"There are supporters of IS, and those who have become even worse," she said. Others, however, "don't want anything to do with it anymore."

Women stand next to a fence at the al-Hol camp in Syria where Islamic State fighters' families are held 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

At a protest over searches in the camp earlier this year, one woman was filmed shouting at the guards, "We are here now but one day it will be you!

"The Islamic State is not going away, even if you kill and beat us... Death does not scare us."

But an Egyptian woman was seen urging calm, saying, "We don't want problems."

Such is the mistrust that some women resist being treated with what they call "Western medicine" leading to outbreaks of disease, most recently of measles.

Women and children in the annex also have to get permission to go to the health centres outside the camp, and it sometimes takes "days, weeks or even months" for less critical cases, according to Liz Harding, head of Doctors Without Borders mission in northeastern Syria.

"Fear, movement restrictions, insecurity and lack of emergency services at night" was cutting them off from care, she added.

Some smuggle in medication and at least one woman performs clandestine dental procedures, which has led to cases of sepsis.

"She doesn't have the tools, but there is no other dental care," a Russian woman complained.

- Huge burden for Kurds -

The grim desperation of the situation weighs heavy on the Syrian Kurds running the camp. Many lost comrades to IS militants whose family members they now have to guard.

A Kurdish security forces member patrols the al-Hol camp in Syria where the families of IS fighters are held 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

"It's a major problem... a burden both financially, politically and morally as well," the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces Mazloum Abdi told AFP.

Humanitarian groups in the camp said children should not have to live in such conditions and insist they should not be defined by their parents' actions.

"Mothers want their children to go to school, to grow up healthily and hope they won't be discriminated against because of all they have experienced," said Save The Children's Achilles.

Kurdish authorities have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their citizens, but hold out little hope of it happening anytime soon. Hanan, the camp's civilian chief, said many "nationalities have no one asking about them".

Asked by AFP what it plans to do with the women and children, the Pentagon said "the only long-term, durable solution for the residents... is the return or repatriation of displaced persons to their areas or countries of origin."

While Iraq has started slow but successful repatriations, thousands of Syrians are stuck in al-Hol awaiting tribal sponsorship to return to areas under Kurdish control. For now, a return for those from Syrian government-held areas looks impossible.

"We wish everyone could go home," Hanan said. "We don't intend to lock anyone up and leave them."

Behind the wire: A boy plays with a mesh bag over his head in the al-Hol camp holding the families of IS fighters in Syria 

© Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP

But it was little comfort to a Russian mother of two who told AFP she felt the world had abandoned her and her children.

"There is no place to go. There is no solution," she said.

© 2024 AFP