US official details 'a life-threatening humanitarian disaster' with human waste and rat infestations at a Qatar facility for Afghan refugees: report
- A US official detailed "a humanitarian crisis" at a facility for Afghan refugees in Qatar, Axios reported.
- The official described a "humanitarian disaster" with bodily fluids and trash on the floors.
- While the State Department and Dept. of Defense say conditions have since improved, it highlights the challenges for US officials.
A State Department official working as a liaison to US Central Command detailed "dire conditions" and a "humanitarian disaster" at a facility in Doha, Qatar, where the US military is temporarily housing Afghan refugees, Axios reported on Tuesday.
Collin Sullivan, who serves in the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, described "a life-threatening humanitarian disaster … that I want to make sure all of you are fully tracking" in an email titled "Dire conditions at Doha," which was obtained by Axios.
"While not in any way downplaying the conditions in Kabul nor the conditions the Afghanis [sic] are escaping from, the current conditions in Doha are of our own doing," Sullivan said, according to Axios.
Sullivan relayed stomach-turning details from staff at the US Embassy in Doha describing brutal summer Qatar heat combined with tight living conditions for refugees.
"A humid day today," one message said. "Where the Afghans are housed is a living hell. Trash, urine, fecal matter, spilled liquids and vomit cover the floors."
"I spent an hour in there picking up trash...almost suffocated," another staffer added.
One message described the situation as "the middle of humanitarian crises [sic] that compounds itself with every flight that lands in Doha."
The US has been successful in evacuating tens of thousands of Afghan refugees out of the country following the collapse of the US-backed Afghan government. But the swifter-than-anticipated Taliban takeover of the country caught the US military and State Department off guard and left them scrambling to complete evacuation efforts while contending with a massive flow of refugees coming through Qatar.
The Washington Post also documented the chaotic conditions in Doha last week, including a video of refugees packed together in one big space.
"I haven't slept for four days and four nights," one Afghan who fled the country on a US military plane, Sayed Harris Khelwati, told the Post. "There aren't cots for everybody. You just lay down where you can."
Over a 24 hour period between Monday and Tuesday morning Eastern Time, for example, the US evacuated 12,700 people from Afghanistan combined with an additional 8,900 evacuated by the US' coalition partners, CNN reported.
Conditions in Qatar appear to have improved since Sullivan's warning, but this situation highlights the compounding challenges of the US's efforts to evacuate as many refugees as possible.
The State Department is "working quickly to alleviate bottlenecks and are surging consular personnel in Qatar, in addition to expediting manifesting, to alleviate current conditions," a department spokesperson told Axios.
"More than 3,700 individuals were transported to follow-on destinations in the United States, Germany and Italy," the spokesperson added.
When refugees leave Afghan on US military planes, most are taken to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar for further processing. And the brutal summer heat in the Middle Eastern nation combined with a constant influx of people crowded in close quarters created a chokepoint at the facility.
The Department of Defense also told Axios that it's taken proactive action to improve conditions for incoming refugees, including putting in more toilets.
Navy Captain William Urban, speaking on behalf of US Central Command, told Axios that "we remain committed to providing a secure, safe and sanitary environment."
"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," Urban said.