It is very popular all over the world

The carpet industry in Afghanistan is a lifeline from unemployment and the economic crisis

• Two workers attend spinning at a factory in Herat province.

  AFP

• Spread the wool bundles to dry on ropes in the open air after staining them.

  AFP

• Afghans weave an expensive silk carpet indoors.

  AFP

• The carpet trade in Afghanistan is facing a recession.

  AFP

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The four Haidari brothers dusted off the dust that had accumulated four years ago on their looms, to resume weaving carpets, a traditional craft practiced at home in the family in Afghanistan, revived again by the severe economic crisis in the country.

Raouf Haidari finally turned the page on his dream of becoming a judge “to serve the country.” Three months ago, he began work with his three brothers on making a new carpet of pure silk that would be 12 meters long.

Raouf, 28, stopped his law lessons three years ago, and is certain that he may never resume them in light of the catastrophic economic situation, since the Taliban movement once again took control of the country, with a massive unemployment rate and a sharp rise in prices.

Sitting between the ages of 25 and 30 on a bench in front of a loom in a cramped room of their family home in Kabul, the siblings work in precise, orderly motions.

They hope to get $5,000 to $6,000 (4,400 to 5,300 euros) for the rug, but it takes months of work to get it done, and they've already spent half the money buying the materials needed to make it, and they know how hard it is now to sell a rug.

About five years ago, the brothers found a profitable job, selling flowers in wedding halls.

But Raouf says that "with the arrival of (the Taliban), the activity in these wedding halls declined sharply, and we returned to making carpets."

It is an activity that they practiced in the past in a family context, and Raouf explained, “It is a craft that we inherited from our ancestors.”

"We have no other choice" to provide for the family's livelihood, says their father, Ghulam Sakhi, in his 70s.

national treasures

About two million Afghans out of a population of nearly 38 million work in the carpet sector, according to Nur Muhammad Nuri, director of the National Association of Carpet Makers.

But he pointed out that the demand has declined sharply since the departure of foreigners working for international organizations from the country in the summer after the return of the "Taliban" to power.

However, Afghan carpets, from silk to thick woolen rugs, are very popular across the world.

Kabir Rauf, who sells this "Afghan national treasure" in Kabul, explained that in recent months, "there are an increasing number of people who make carpets."

Among them are a large number of women who can no longer work, girls who have not resumed studies as schools are still closed, and some men have lost their jobs.

In Herat, near the Iranian border, Haji Abdul Qadir receives daily calls from two or three people looking for work, and he currently employs about 150 families who make carpets for him.

Since the Taliban's return, he says, "there are fewer professional opportunities for women abroad.

Thus, those who are good at making carpets contact us.

There are no other jobs.

Muhammad Taji, whose family has been working with Haji Abdel Qader for 10 years, asserts that “a person who masters carpet-making will never remain without work,” and he himself used to make carpets in his youth.

His four children, aged between 17 and 24, work in carpet making in the family's modest home, working silently by the fireplace.

They need four months to complete their four two-by-three-meter rugs, for which they will charge 55,000 Afghanis (505 euros).

Muhammad Taji says, "I am proud of this profession: we make carpets in our country that are sold all over the world as Afghani carpets."

His youngest son, Naseem, 17, who started making carpets at the age of 10, is still studying and hopes to become a doctor.

"With the rug money, my daughters can go to university," the father said.

But carpet dealers do not feel the same reassurance.

“Withdrawals of money in banks are limited (a maximum of $400 a week), and I am afraid that I do not have enough cash to pay the carpet makers,” said Haji Abdel Qader, who receives about five carpets a week.

"If the export movement does not return, the number of carpet manufacturers will have to be reduced," he added.

Kabir Raouf also complained that "foreigners don't come back here to buy rugs," sitting in his empty shop in Kabul among hundreds of rugs.

The seller, who started working at the age of 16 as a traveling carpet seller in the streets of Herat, says it is the "worst period" of doing business.

But he remains optimistic, and with flights just resuming with Dubai, it will be possible to send parts from there to all parts of the world.

He counts a lot on China, where his son owns a shop.

• Haji Abdul Qadir, in Herat near the Iranian border, receives daily calls from two or three people looking for work, and he currently employs about 150 families who make carpets for him.

• There is an increasing number of people making carpets.

Among them are a large number of women who can no longer work, and girls who have not resumed studies, as schools are still closed, and some men have lost their jobs.

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