“Housed in a living hell.” This is the quote from a US Central Command official’s email obtained by Axios. The email describes the living conditions at the Qatar airbase as having, according to Axios, “loose feces and urine and a rat infestation.”
Speaking to Axios, US Central Command’s spokesman, Navy Capt. William Urban, said, “We recognize this is a challenging and difficult situation for these vulnerable individuals and families, and 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.”
In an email to the State Department, Supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan said this is a “life-threatening humanitarian disaster.”
Sullivan went on to say, “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.”
The Pentagon has said they are actively working on improving conditions in the airbase. According to a Pentagon spokesperson said, “We are working quickly to alleviate bottlenecks and are surging consular personnel in Qatar, in addition to expediting manifesting, to alleviate current conditions. More than 3,700 individuals were transported to follow-on destinations in the United States, Germany and Italy.”
