Staff members and owners of orphanages that care for unaccompanied and orphaned children say they are deeply alarmed by the Taliban’s decision to close these facilities across Afghanistan. According to them, the Taliban made the decision without public notice, shut down all such institutions, confiscated their assets, and began transferring children to state-run orphanages under Taliban control. Orphanage workers say this move has not only left hundreds of people without jobs, but has also raised serious concerns about how these children will be educated and raised. Many fear that the children could be molded to serve the Taliban’s ideological goals, including suicide attacks and acts of terrorism. They warn that if this process continues, it could severely damage the future of the next generation.
Employees of private orphanages say the pressure did not begin overnight. Over the past year, the Taliban refused to renew their agreements and repeatedly delayed the process using various excuses. More recently, officials verbally informed them that all private orphanages in the country would be shut down. According to these employees, the Taliban also plan to confiscate the institutions’ assets and move the children to child care centers run by state bodies under Taliban control.
Several orphanage staff members told the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “They are closing all private orphanages without any explanation. For a year, they have refused to sign any agreements and keep saying that the process is suspended until further notice. Hundreds of people work in these orphanages, and thousands of orphans grow up there with shelter and care.”
An employee of a private orphanage in Kabul described months of uncertainty. “They have not renewed our agreement since last year,” the employee said. “This year, they told us the matter was serious and might be officially announced within days. After we repeatedly went to the Taliban Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and asked why our agreement was not signed, officials finally told us that the orphanage would be completely closed this year.”
The same employee added: “A few days ago, we went again to request the signing of the agreement. They said the situation was bad but gave no clear reason. They only said the order came from higher authorities, and no one took responsibility. In the end, officials from the Orphanages Directorate confirmed that we had to wait. They told us all assets would be confiscated and transferred, and the children would be moved to state-run orphanages.”
These accounts came just a day after Shafiq Murid, one of the country’s singers, said the Taliban had closed the Rayan Children orphanage in Kabul, which he oversaw. Murid wrote on his Instagram page that Taliban forces raided the orphanage two days earlier and transferred the children to state facilities. According to him, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader, ordered the suspension of all private orphanages.
At the same time, many citizens of Afghanistan say the closures point to a darker purpose. They believe the Taliban aim to secure future fighters by placing children under their control from an early age. According to these citizens, moving children into Taliban-run education and training is not only dangerous for their personal futures, but also poses a serious threat to the country and the wider region. They say the Taliban use state resources to sustain their political and military power, and that these children could later be trained for suicide attacks and terrorism. The lack of oversight by international or human rights organizations over these orphanages and their management only deepens these fears.
Wahidullah, a citizen of Afghanistan, said, “Handing over thousands of unaccompanied children to the Taliban is extremely dangerous. They can shape these children for any purpose. They could be turned into suicide attackers or subjected to systematic brainwashing. There are countless worries that these children will be indoctrinated to serve the future of the Taliban system. Extremism and terrorism could threaten the country’s future even more than they do today. We are deeply concerned and fear that some of these children may be abused.”
Another citizen, Fereydun, expressed concern about the Taliban’s continued focus on building religious schools. He said children transferred from private orphanages to institutions under Taliban control have little reason to feel hopeful about their future. According to him, the Taliban will raise these unaccompanied children for recruitment and ideological conditioning tied to their long-term plans, further embedding religious extremism and a culture of violence in their thinking.
Despite these concerns, the Taliban Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs announced that it plans to close private orphanages and transfer orphaned and unaccompanied children to state-run facilities. Samiullah Ebrahimi, spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said in a video message yesterday that separate orphanages for boys and girls have been built in the provinces over the past four years. He stated that more than 10,000 orphaned and unaccompanied children are currently housed in 60 orphanages under the ministry’s supervision.
The ministry’s spokesperson did not provide precise figures on the number of private orphanages. Earlier, in August 2023, the Taliban announced that 54 orphanages were active across the country, 30 of them privately run.
Meanwhile, sources say the Taliban intend to convert former private orphanages into religious schools. According to these sources, the group plans to turn the central Kabul orphanage into a large religious institution. Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, this orphanage, located in the Tahiya-e Maskan area of Kabul, housed more than 1,000 children. Today, only about 300 remain.
The Taliban are taking control of orphanages for unaccompanied children at a time when the US Department of State, in its 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, previously stated that the Taliban recruit children as soldiers and, in some cases, force boys into sexual slavery.
The report notes that children as young as 12 are recruited into support roles, often using falsified ages, and receive training in military and religious schools. It also states that there is no evidence that the Taliban have enforced a ban on child recruitment.
The report further states that authorities have investigated or prosecuted no cases related to the practice of bacha bazi. It adds that trafficking victims, including children forced into sexual exploitation or begging, are often detained without proper investigation or referral to support services.
Earlier, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said the group allocated 12 billion afghanis to the families of its suicide attackers. Taliban-controlled National Television broadcast the interview in three parts on its X page on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Mujahid said the amount equals the combined budget of three ministries and added that the funds would be distributed through the group’s Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs to support the children and women of suicide attackers.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
یتیمان در چنگ طالبان؛ کودکان با ایدئولوژی خونبار بزرگ میشوند
