Unemployed Afghans risk death and debt in hunt for gold

In Yaftal Sufla, Afghanistan, men risk debt and death mining for gold in hopes of escaping poverty.

Tearing off a piece of mouldy flatbread, Homayon gulped tea in a brief reprieve from the din of the machines he and a dozen other men were using to dig for gold on a mountainside in northeastern Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old found little work as a mechanic in nearby Faizabad city, so he banded with other unemployed men to try their luck carving out a living in the rocky mountains that dominate Badakhshan province.

“Five, six of us were jobless, we came here to see if we can find anything,” Homayon said, as the handful of men finished their break and returned to work at the small-scale mine they had set up.

Their efforts digging four tunnels have borne little fruit, even as they pour money into fuel, tools and labour.

Other mines in the area had proved productive, Homayon said, so they kept digging — the promise of a windfall outweighing the risks of debt.

The losses can be significant, warned fellow miner Qadir Khan. “There are people who went into debt and were not able to find anything from these kinds of tunnels,” he said.

“They lost two to three hundred thousand Afghanis (roughly $2,800-$4,200), and there was nothing to do but try to find different work, make money, and come back to pay their debts.”