NO REFUGE

Urine, Feces, Rats: Leaked Email Says U.S. Facility for Afghan Evacuees is ‘Living Hell’

A U.S. supervisory special agent has lifted the lid on conditions at the base in Qatar.

Thousands of Afghan evacuees are reportedly being housed in a rat-infested U.S.-run facility that is covered in urine, fecal matter, and garbage. The shocking disclosure came from an internal email—sent to officials at the State Department and the Pentagon, and leaked to Axios—that lifted the lid on the disgusting conditions at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, which has been filled to capacity with evacuees. In the email titled “Dire conditions at Doha,” supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan described “a life-threatening humanitarian disaster” that he said was “of our own doing.” Sullivan included “excerpts from Doha Embassy staff communications,” about the conditions, which included the updates: “Where the Afghans are housed is a living hell. Trash, urine, fecal matter, spilled liquids and vomit cover the floors... These human beings are in a living nightmare... They now have a rat problem.”

When asked about the email, Navy Capt. William Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, told Axios: “It has been challenging to keep up with the flow, but we have made progress in caring for and safeguarding these vulnerable individuals and in getting them moving onward.”