Essex man says charity worker left in ‘hell-hole’ camp

Paul “Pen” Farthing, who owns Nowzad animal sanctuary, has said his 33-week pregnant manager is “terrified” and had told him there is “no system in place” at the camp, four days after boarding a flight which he said was supposed to take her to the United States.

Mr Farthing is a former Royal Marine from Dovercourt who served in the Afghan province of Helmand in the mid-2000s.

He set up Nowzad animal sanctuary in the capital 15 years ago – which rescues dogs, cats and donkeys.

His pregnant manager was one of the 25 Nowzad staff members he said he would not leave the country without, along with their dependents and animals.

But Mr Farthing said that despite being a US citizen who left on an American evacuation flight, she is now with 9,000 other refugees in a camp which he said does not have enough food supplies or toilets.

Read more >> Wife of ex-Marine flees Afghanistan after 'nearly being killed'

He told PA: “We’ve got thousands of people trying to leave Afghanistan because of a situation we created.

“The West created this, and I truly believe that getting my country manager out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do because I thought she’d be treated with dignity and a little bit of priority because she’s 33 weeks pregnant.

“But to see her now trapped in a hell hole prison camp… I can’t express how angry, upset, disappointed and disillusioned I am.

“She doesn’t even know exactly where she is right now.”

He added: “She’s scared, because what happens if she has the baby in that camp – have they got the right facilities, have they got anything set up, and what if there’s complications?”

It is understood the pregnant manager also has her young son with her, who has fallen ill while inside the camp.

Members of the 16 Air Assault Brigade in Afghanistan Picture MoD

One photo sent to Mr Farthing from his manager shows a large hall with camp beds closely packed together, while another shows a large number of people, many wrapped in blankets, apparently in a queue, next to a row of tents.

The rest of the Nowzad team, including Mr Farthing, are due to fly out from Kabul in the coming days, if they can get through the chaos at the airport, his campaigner Dominic Dyer has said.

The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace yesterday gave an update on how many people had been evacuated from Afghanistan by Britain.

As of August 14, more than 6,500 people had been evacuated, while 8,000 have been taken out since April.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the US Department of Defence have been contacted for comment.