Najib's story
At fourteen Najib left home desperate to find work in an effort to support his family. He secretly passed across the border into Iran where he found a job labouring. He was able to send small amounts of money home to his family on a monthly basis. But Najib was arrested by the Iranian police because he did not have a passport or the correct papers. He found himself in prison alongside men who had committed serious crimes. For two months Najib suffered harsh conditions, inadequate food and was regularly beaten. All his earnings were confiscated by the police and he became depressed, believing that he had let his family down.
The Iranian authorities eventually deported him back to Afghanistan. He returned home. But his family could barely feed themselves let alone support Najib.
With knowledge of Iran and its border crossings Najib was quickly identified by the agents of local drug lords who move large amounts of opium into Iran. With the opportunity of earning more money than he could ever hope to labouring, Najib began smuggling drugs into Iran. He was caught on the border by Iranian authorities. Some children have been executed for smuggling. Najib was severely beaten and deported to Afghanistan again where he was prosecuted and sentenced to a prison term.
In prison, he was beaten by the guards and other inmates. Deprived of food and any developmental opportunities such as education or even recreation, Najib was fast losing his child hood.
At the beginning of this year War Child was able to successfully separate children like Najib from adult prisoners. War Child's work with children in detention in Herat is a landmark. It is the first time in Afghanistan that children have been separated from adult prisoners in this way. These children now enjoy a more appropriate and supportive care regime. Najib was sent to the children's detention centre that War Child had rehabilitated. Here, Najib was fed properly and had access to basic recreational facilities provided by War Child. He quickly became the champion table tennis star for the centre.
The training that War Child has provided the detention centre staff has helped them to build detailed case files on each child for the first time. The development of Najib's case notes was able to identify that he owed the drug smugglers money for the drugs that were confiscated from him at the border. It became apparent that upon release he would be at clear risk of being re-recruited to the smuggling ring in order to pay off this debt.
So, on the one hand, in managing Najib's case it was important that income generating opportunities were identified and developed that would enable him to resolve these issues for himself, while creating longer term livelihood options that would prevent him from coming into conflict with the law.
War Child supported Najib with basic literacy and vocational training while he was in detention, and with a small start up grant to pursue his own business - selling phone cards and cleaning shoes - immediately upon his release. He now shares accommodation with other young people and works in Herat. He continues to receive counseling and advice from War Child's social workers, who are seeking to place him in an apprentice scheme that will enable him to earn money and learn important vocational skills at the same time.
On behalf of children like Najib War Child has started working closely with the business community of Herat in developing a work placement and training programme for children released from detention.