How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees

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Funding shortages resulting from foreign aid cuts have already forced scores of health facilities across Afghanistan to reduce services or close altogether, with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt, according to the WHO. (AFP file)
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Updated 06 April 2025
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How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees

  • Forty percent of the foreign aid given to Afghanistan came from USAID prior to the agency’s shutdown 
  • Experts say pregnant women, children, and the displaced will be hardest hit by the abrupt loss of funding

LONDON: Amid sweeping foreign aid cuts, Afghanistan’s healthcare system has been left teetering on the brink of collapse, with 80 percent of World Health Organization-supported services projected to shut down by June, threatening critical medical access for millions.

The abrupt closure of the US Agency for International Development, which once provided more than 40 percent of all humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation of 40 million, dealt a devastating blow to an already fragile health system.




Supporters of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) rally outside the US Capitol on February 05, 2025 in Washington, DC, to protest the Trump Administration's sudden closure of the agency. (AFP)

Researcher and public health expert Dr. Shafiq Mirzazada said that while it was too early to declare Afghanistan’s health system was in a state of collapse, the consequences of the aid cuts would be severe for “the entire population.”

“WHO funding is only one part of the system,” he told Arab News, pointing out that Afghanistan’s health sector is fully funded by donors through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund, known as the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund before August 2021.

Established in 2002 after the US-led invasion, the ARTF supports international development in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, the fund has focused on providing essential services through UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations




Funding shortages resulting from foreign aid cuts have already forced scores of health facilities across Afghanistan to reduce services or close altogether, with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt, according to the WHO. (AFP file)

However, this approach has struggled to meet the growing needs, as donor fatigue and political challenges compound funding shortages.

“A significant portion of the funding goes to health programs through UNICEF and WHO,” Mirzazada said, referring to the UN children’s fund. “Primarily UNICEF channels funds through the Health Emergency Response project.”

Yet even those efforts have proven insufficient as facilities close at an alarming rate.

By early March, funding shortages forced 167 health facilities to close across 25 provinces, depriving 1.6 million people of care, according to the WHO.

Without urgent intervention, experts say 220 more facilities could close by June, leaving a further 1.8 million Afghans without primary care — particularly in northern, western and northeastern regions.

The closures are not just logistical setbacks, they represent life-or-death outcomes for millions.

“The consequences will be measured in lives lost,” Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement.




Dr. Edwin Ceniza Salvador, World Health Organization's representative in Afghanistan. (Supplied)

“These closures are not just numbers on a report. They represent mothers unable to give birth safely, children missing lifesaving vaccinations, entire communities left without protection from deadly disease outbreaks.”

Bearing the brunt of Afghanistan’s healthcare crisis are the most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, children in need of vaccinations and those living in overcrowded displacement camps, where they are exposed to infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases.




This photograph taken on January 9, 2024 shows Afghan women and children refugees deported from Pakistan, in a nutrition ward at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees camp on the outskirts of Kabul. (AFP)

Because Afghanistan’s health system was heavily focused on maternal and child care, Mirzazada said: “Any disruption will primarily affect women and children — including, but not limited to, vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.

“We’re already seeing challenges, with outbreaks of measles in the country. The number of deaths due to measles is rising.”

This trend will be exacerbated by declining immunization rates.




A health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child during a vaccination campaign in the old quarters of Kabul on November 8, 2021. (AFP)

“Children will face more diseases as vaccine coverage continues to decline,” Mirzazada said.

“We can already see a reduction in vaccine coverage. The Afghanistan Health Survey 2018 showed basic vaccine coverage at 51.4 percent, while the recent UNICEF-led Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey shows it has dropped to 36.6 percent in 2022-23.”

IN NUMBERS:

14.3 million Afghans in need of medical assistance

$126.7 million Funding needed for healthcare

• 22.9 million Afghans requiring urgent aid to access healthcare, food and clean water.

The WHO recorded more than 16,000 suspected measles cases, including 111 deaths, in the first two months of 2025 alone.

It warned that with immunization rates critically low — 51 percent for the first dose of the measles vaccine and 37 percent for the second — children were at heightened risk of preventable illness and death.

Meanwhile, midwives have reported dire conditions in the nation’s remaining facilities. Women in labor are arriving too late for lifesaving interventions due to clinic closures.

Women and girls are disproportionately bearing the brunt of these health challenges in great part due to Taliban policies.

Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and employment have severely limited health access, while bans on education for women and girls have all but eliminated training for future female health workers.

In December, the Taliban closed all midwifery and nursing schools.

Wahid Majrooh, founder of the Afghanistan Center for Health and Peace Studies, said the move “threatens the capacity of Afghanistan’s already fragile health system” and violated international human rights commitments.

He wrote in the Lancet Global Health journal that “if left unaddressed, this restriction could set precedence for other fragile settings in which women’s rights are compromised.”




This picture taken on October 6, 2021 shows a midwife (L) and a nutrition counsellor weighing a baby at the Tangi Saidan clinic run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, in Daymirdad district of Wardak province. (AFP file)

“Afghanistan faces a multifaceted crisis marked by alarming rates of poverty, human rights violations, economic instability and political deadlock, predominantly affecting women and children,” the former Afghan health minister said.

“Women are denied their basic rights to education, work and, to a large extent, access to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The ban on midwifery schools limits women’s access to health, erodes their agency in health institutions and eradicates women role models.”

Majrooh described the ban on midwifery and nursing education as “a public health emergency” that “requires urgent action.”

Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with 22.9 million people — roughly half its population — requiring urgent aid to access healthcare, food and clean water.

Critical funding shortfalls and operational barriers now jeopardize support for 3.5 million children aged 6 to 59 months facing acute malnutrition, according to UN figures, as aid groups grapple with the intersecting challenges of economic collapse, climate shocks and Taliban restrictions.

The provinces of Kabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Herat and Kandahar bear the heaviest burden, collectively accounting for 42 percent of the nation’s malnutrition cases. As a result, aid organizations are struggling to meet the needs of malnourished children, with recent cuts in foreign aid forcing Save the Children to suspend lifesaving programs.




As vaccine coverage continues to decline, children will be the most vulnerable to diseases. (ARTF photo)

The UK-based charity has closed 18 health facilities and faces the potential closure of 14 more unless new funding is secured. These 32 clinics provided critical care to 134,000 children in January alone, including therapeutic feeding and immunizations, it said in a statement.

“With more children in need of aid than ever before, cutting off lifesaving support now is like trying to extinguish a wildfire with a hose that’s running out of water,” Gabriella Waaijman, chief operating officer at Save the Children International, said.

As well as the hunger crisis, Afghanistan is battling outbreaks of malaria, measles, dengue, polio and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The WHO said that without functioning health facilities, efforts to control these diseases would be severely hindered.




Afghan refugees along with their belongings arrive on trucks from Pakistan, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on November 20, 2023. (AFP)

The risk may be higher among internally displaced communities. Four decades of conflict have driven repeated waves of forced displacement, both within Afghanistan and across its borders, while recurring natural disasters have worsened the crisis.

About 6.3 million people remain displaced within the country, living in precarious conditions without access to adequate shelter or essential services, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Mass deportations have compounded the crisis. More than 1.2 million Afghans returning from neighboring countries such as Pakistan in 2024 are now crowded into makeshift camps with poor sanitation. This had fueled outbreaks of measles, acute watery diarrhea, dengue fever and malaria, the UNHCR said in October.




Afghan refugees along with their belongings sit beside the trucks at a registration centre, upon their arrival from Pakistan in Takhta Pul district of Kandahar province on Dec. 18, 2023. (AFP)

With limited healthcare access, other diseases are also spreading rapidly.

Respiratory infections and COVID-19 are surging among returnees, with 293 suspected cases detected at border crossings in early 2025, according to the WHO’s February Emergency Situation Report.

Cases of acute respiratory infections, including pneumonia, have also risen, with 54 cases reported, primarily in children under the age of 5.




Afghan boys sit with their winter kits from UNICEF at Fayzabad in Badakhshan province on February 25, 2024. (AFP)

The WHO said that returnees settling in remote areas faced “healthcare deserts,” where clinics had been shuttered for years and where there were no aid pipelines.

Water scarcity in 30 provinces exacerbates acute watery diarrhea risks, while explosive ordnance contamination and road accidents cause trauma cases that overwhelm understaffed facilities.




This photo taken on July 21, 2022 shows people outside the Boost Hospital, run by Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), in Lashkar Gah, Helmand. (AFP)

Mirzazada said that “while the ARTF has some funds, they won’t be enough to sustain the system long term.”

To prevent the collapse of Afghanistan’s health system and keep services running, he urged the country’s Taliban authorities to contribute to its funding.

“Government contributions have been very limited in the past and now even more so,” he said.




In this photo taken on June 3, 2021, Qari Hafizullah Hamdan (2nd L), health official for the Qarabagh district, visits patients at a hospital in the Andar district of Ghazni province. Taliban authorities had been urged to contribute to the ARTF to prevent a collapse of the country's health care system. (AFP File)

“However, the recently developed health policy for Afghanistan mentions internally sourced funding for the health system. If that happens under the current or future authorities, it could help prevent collapse.”

He also called on Islamic and Arab nations to increase their funding efforts.

“Historically, Western countries have been the main funders of the ARTF,” Mirzazada said. “The largest contributors were the US, Germany, the European Commission and other Western nations.

“Islamic and Arab countries have contributed very little. That could change and still be channeled through the UN system, as NGOs continue to deliver services on behalf of donors and the government.

“This approach could remain in place until a solid, internally funded health system is established.”
 

 


US sends 68 migrants back to Honduras and Colombia in first voluntary deportation

Updated 20 May 2025
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US sends 68 migrants back to Honduras and Colombia in first voluntary deportation

  • Experts believe the self-deportation offer will only appeal to a small portion of migrants already considering return, but unlikely to spur high demand

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras: The United States on Monday sent 68 immigrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their countries, the first government-funded flight of what the Trump administration is calling voluntary deportations.
In the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, 38 Hondurans, including 19 children, disembarked from the charter flight carrying $1,000 debit cards from the US government and the offer to one day be allowed to apply for legal entry into the US.
US President Donald Trump has promised to increase deportations substantially. Experts believe the self-deportation offer will only appeal to a small portion of migrants already considering return, but unlikely to spur high demand. The offer has been paired with highly-publicized migrant detentions in the US and flying a couple hundred Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Kevin Antonio Posadas, from Tegucigalpa, had lived in Houston for three years, but had already been considering a return to Honduras when the Trump administration announced its offer.
“I wanted to see my family and my mom,” said Posadas, who added that the process was easy.
“You just apply (through the CBP Home app) and in three days you’ve got it,” he said. The flight left Houston early Monday. “It’s good because you save the cost of the flight if you have the intention of leaving.”
Posadas said he hadn’t feared deportation and liked living in the US, but had been thinking for some time about going home. He said eventually he would consider taking up the US government’s offer of allowing those who self-deport to apply to enter the United States legally.
In a statement about the flight Monday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return.”
Twenty-six more migrants aboard the flight were headed home to Colombia, according to a US Department of Homeland Security statement.
Honduras Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García said the Honduran government would also support the returning migrants with $100 cash and another $200 credit at a government-run store that sells basic necessities.
Among the migrants arriving voluntarily Monday were four children who were born in the United States, García said.
García, who met the arriving migrants at the airport, said they told him that being in the US without documents required for legal immigration or residence had been increasingly difficult, that things were growing more hostile and they feared going to work.
Still, the number of Hondurans deported from the US so far this year is below last year’s pace, said Honduras immigration director Wilson Paz.
While about 13,500 Hondurans have been deported from the US this year, the figure stood at more than 15,000 by this time in 2024, Paz said.
He didn’t expect the number to accelerate much, despite the Trump administration’s intentions.
Some would continue applying to self-deport, because they feel like their time in the US is up or because it’s getting harder to work, he said.
“I don’t think it will be thousands of people who apply for the program,” Paz said. “Our responsibility is that they come in an orderly fashion and we support them.”


US judge rules Trump unlawfully ousted board members of Institute of Peace

Updated 20 May 2025
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US judge rules Trump unlawfully ousted board members of Institute of Peace

  • The Institute was founded by Congress in 1984 with a mandate to protect US interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad

WASHINGTON: A federal judge in Washington ruled on Monday that the Trump administration illegally ousted leaders of the US Institute of Peace, calling the effort a “gross usurpation of power.”
In her decision, US District Judge Beryl Howell said Republican President Donald Trump overstepped his power when his administration removed five board members without cause from the nonprofit organization, which is funded by the US Congress.
The administration’s efforts to control the direction of the Institute of Peace became a public standoff in March, when some staff of the organization locked the building’s doors to bar members of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from entering.
Local police were called and subsequently expelled the organization’s leadership, including its president.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in a statement called the Institute of Peace a “failed” organization, and said Trump acted lawfully in reducing the group’s budget. “This rogue judge’s attempt to impede on the separation of powers will not be the last say on the matter,” Kelly said.
Lawyers for the board members who sued did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Institute was founded by Congress in 1984 with a mandate to protect US interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad.
Howell said the administration’s move to control the group “by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better.”
The Justice Department, which had argued the board members were lawfully removed, can appeal Howell’s order to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Howell in March ruled against the Institute’s request for a temporary, emergency order to stop the Trump administration from controlling the organization.


Putin will ‘benefit’ if US gives up on Ukraine peace: Zelensky

Updated 20 May 2025
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Putin will ‘benefit’ if US gives up on Ukraine peace: Zelensky

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged the United States not to give up on working for peace in Ukraine, saying that only Russian President Vladimir Putin would “benefit” from US disengagement.
“It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin,” Zelensky said on social media after Trump held a series of calls with both leaders in his bid to end the three-year war.


Why Pope Leo XIV’s message of peace and unity resonates in the Middle East

Updated 20 May 2025
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Why Pope Leo XIV’s message of peace and unity resonates in the Middle East

  • New pontiff opened his papacy with a plea for global dialogue, striking a chord in a conflict-torn region
  • Leo’s migrant roots have helped shape a worldview welcomed by Catholic communities of the Arabian Peninsula

LONDON: On May 8, Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and announced the name the world had been waiting for.

With a mix of surprise, joy, and curiosity in the crowd below, he revealed that the College of Cardinals had chosen Robert Francis Prevost as the 269th pontiff of the Catholic Church. He would take the name Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost, 69, had appeared on papabile lists circulated by Vatican watchers, but his election surprised not just the Fantapapa players — a fantasy game for papal predictions — but much of the church hierarchy and media.

For days, speculation had centered around Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, whose role as the Vatican’s number two and deep diplomatic experience made him a frontrunner.

Leo is a reference to Pope Leo XIII, remembered as the pope of Catholic social teaching. (AFP)

As is often the case with papal elections, the secrecy and discernment of the Conclave delivered a choice that defied predictions, leaving the world to piece together a portrait of the new pontiff after the fact.

Despite the Vatican’s characteristic reluctance to comment on its own decisions, the early signals from Leo have offered some insight into the kind of leader he may be.

His papacy begins at a moment when the Western world, in particular, appears to be searching for moral clarity, especially in relation to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Three immediate clues point to the direction Leo may take.

First, his name. As with all pontifical names, the choice is steeped in symbolism. In this case, Leo is a reference to Pope Leo XIII, remembered as the pope of Catholic social teaching.

In 1891, Leo XIII published Rerum Novarum (“Of Revolutionary Change”), an encyclical that addressed the impact of the Industrial Revolution on workers and called for a Church more engaged with modern social issues.

The name suggests Pope Leo XIV may seek to revive that tradition, engaging with today’s global inequalities and the disruptive forces of technology.

The second indication came from his first words as pope. Delivered in eloquent Italian, he issued a direct and urgent appeal: “Peace in the world.”

In an age marked by war in Gaza, violence in Sudan, and prolonged suffering in Syria, the message struck a chord. It was a simple phrase, but one that carried weight, reminding listeners of the Vatican’s potential to offer moral guidance amid geopolitical chaos.

Third, and perhaps most symbolically, is his nationality. As Aldo Cazzullo, deputy editor of Corriere della Sera, noted, the election of the first North American pope inevitably carries geopolitical meaning.

Prevost, 69,  election surprised much of the church hierarchy and media. (AFP)

Just as John Paul II’s Polish roots shaped his response to Soviet Communism, and Pope Francis’s Argentinian background informed his focus on the poor and the Global South, Pope Leo’s American identity may influence how he engages with the world’s power structures.

“From his first words after the election and his strong emphasis on peace, it is clear that there will be continuity with Pope Francis, though certainly expressed in his own style and sensitivity,” Bishop Paolo Martinelli, Vicar Apostolic of Southern Arabia, told Arab News.

“The choice of name also seems very significant to me. As he himself explained, choosing the name ‘Leo’ he wants to recall Pope Leo XIII, the Pope of Rerum Novarum, who was attentive to the needs of workers.

“He was the pope who faced the Industrial Revolution and defended the dignity of the human person.”

He argued that by aligning himself with that legacy, Leo may be hinting at a similar approach to today’s challenges, especially the rise of artificial intelligence, labor displacement and pervasive economic inequality.

Martinelli also pointed out that while Leo is American by birth, his missionary work in Latin America has shaped his worldview. “Certainly, the election of a pope is connected to the historical context,” he said. “However, that alone is not enough to explain the cardinals’ choice.

BIO

Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Leo is the first North American pope.

• Chose name ‘Leo’ in tribute to Leo XIII, signaling a focus on workers’ rights.

• Former missionary in Latin America, bringing inclusive outlook to papacy.

“Personality and the ability to embody the church in its unity and universality” played a significant role in his election, he added.POPE

Taken together, the opening moments of Leo’s pontificate paint a clear picture of continuity with his predecessor — particularly in advancing church reform and championing peace and justice in conflict zones such as the Gaza Strip.

Just a week into his papacy, Leo is already emerging as a spiritual and moral successor to Pope Francis, especially in matters concerning the Middle East.

“First of all, Pope Leo XIV is the son of migrants,” said Martinelli. “Catholics in the Arabian Peninsula are, for the most part, migrants themselves. For this reason, I believe he may have the right sensitivity to understand the reality of the faithful living in this part of the world.”

The opening moments of Leo’s pontificate paint a clear picture of continuity with his predecessor. (AFP)

Martinelli pointed to Leo’s first greeting and his Regina Caeli address as evidence of his deep concern for the Middle East. “Both were marked by a strong appeal for peace,” he said. “I am confident that his commitment to peace will be both concrete and consistent.”

Francis, who appointed Leo to key Vatican roles and made him a cardinal in 2023 following years of missionary work in Peru, had been a vocal critic of the wars in Sudan, Gaza, Syria and Yemen.

His remarks — often perceived as a rare moral stance in the Western world — strained relations with Israeli officials. In the days after his death, Israeli embassies were instructed to remove public condolences, and most senior leaders boycotted his funeral.

In contrast, Leo has delivered repeated appeals for peace, both in public appearances and private meetings. Though simple in tone, his words appear to resonate, especially in a region exhausted by conflict.

On May 14, he praised Christian communities in the Middle East who “persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them” despite war, marginalization, or persecution — remarks seen as a veiled reference to the ongoing displacement of Christians from the West Bank by Israeli settlers.

Unlike his predecessor, whose forthright condemnations sometimes led to diplomatic fallout, Leo has so far adopted a more measured yet persistent tone. “I believe his words clearly indicate the path he intends to follow, and they will surely be well received in the Gulf region and throughout the Middle East,” said Martinelli.

While avoiding direct criticism of Israeli or Western leaders, Leo has offered to mediate between warring parties and pledged to “make every effort so that this peace may prevail.”

He also cautioned against framing ongoing conflicts as binary and simplistic narratives that divide the world into good and evil, stressing the need for dialogue — not just between political leaders, but among religious communities — as the only path forward in times of deep moral and societal crisis.

“The commitment to dialogue between people of different faiths is extremely important — vital in an age where religion still risks being exploited for nationalistic purposes,” said Martinelli.

“Committing violence in the name of God is always a betrayal of true religious experience; it is a misuse of religion.”

The secrecy and discernment of the Conclave delivered a choice that defied predictions. (AFP)

For Martinelli, peace in Gaza and across the region must be rooted in interfaith dialogue — particularly between Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam — if it is to be credible and sustainable in a region long marred by sectarian violence and instability.

That dialogue gained fresh momentum during Francis’s historic 2019 visit to the UAE, the first ever papal visit to the Arabian Gulf.

There, Francis and Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, signed the Document on Human Fraternity, a groundbreaking call to reject violence and extremism.

That message was amplified again during Francis’s 2021 pilgrimage to Iraq, a journey viewed by many as an attempt to mend bridges between the different faiths in the country.

“Pope Francis’ commitment to interreligious dialogue — expressed most notably in his visit to Abu Dhabi and the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity — belongs to a well-established tradition in the church,” Martinelli said.

“This seems to me to be an irreversible path for the Catholic Church. For this reason, I am confident that Pope Leo XIV will carry forward and deepen this journey, which is also essential for promoting peace and reconciliation in the world.”

While it is still too early to say whether Leo will launch new diplomatic initiatives in the region, his early statements suggest that he could seek to position the Vatican as an active mediator, as Francis once did during the Syrian conflict.

Leo has delivered repeated appeals for peace, both in public appearances and private meetings. (AFP)

All signs point to Leo adopting a tone of moral clarity reminiscent of his predecessor: condemning violence, encouraging interfaith cooperation, and offering hope.

What remains uncertain is how effectively he will balance this moral authority with the pragmatic demands of a volatile geopolitical landscape.

What is clear, however, is that the Chicago-born missionary is likely to build on Francis’s diplomatic legacy — one that transformed the Vatican into a modern soft-power institution rooted in moral imperatives.

 


Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past

Updated 19 May 2025
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Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past

  • Villa Baviera is the former home of a brutal cult that was used for torturing and killing dissidents under the rule of Augusto Pinochet
  • The Chilean state wants to turn it into a memorial for the victims of the country’s 1973-1990 dictatorship

VILLA BAVIERA: With its pristine swimming pool, manicured lawns and lush forest backdrop, Villa Baviera, a German-themed settlement of 122 souls in southern Chile, looks like the perfect holiday getaway.
But Colonia Dignidad, as it was previously known, is a byword for horror, as the former home of a brutal cult that was used for torturing and killing dissidents under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Twenty years after the cult leader, former Wehrmacht soldier Paul Schaefer, was jailed for the sexual abuse and torture of children at the colony, the Chilean state wants to turn it into a memorial for the victims of the country’s 1973-1990 dictatorship.
In June last year, President Gabriel Boric ordered that 116 hectares (287 acres) of the 4,800-hectare site, an area including the residents’ homes, a hotel, a restaurant, and several food processing factories, be expropriated to make way for a center of remembrance.
But some of the inhabitants, who were separated from their families as children, subjected to forced labor, and in some cases, sexually abused, say they are being victimized all over again.
Colonia Dignidad
Schaefer founded Colonia Dignidad in 1961 as an idyllic German family village — but instead abused, drugged and indoctrinated the few hundred residents and kept them as virtual slaves.
The boundaries between abuser and abused were blurred, with the children of Schaefer’s sidekicks counting themselves among his victims.
Anna Schnellenkamp, the 48-year-old manager of the colony’s hotel and restaurant, said she “worked completely free of charge until 2005,” the year of Schaefer’s arrest. “So much work I broke my back.”
Several years ago Schnellenkamp, whose late father Kurt Schnellenkamp was jailed for five years for being an accomplice to Schaefer’s abuse, finally found happiness.
She got married, had a daughter and started to create new, happier memories in the colony, where everyone still communicates in German despite being conversant in Spanish.
But she still views the settlement as part of her birthright.
“The settlers know every detail, every building, every tree, including where they once suffered and were forced to work,” she explained.
Chile’s dictatorship
Around 3,200 people were killed and more than 38,000 people tortured during Chile’s brutal dictatorship.
An estimated 26 people disappeared in Colonia Dignidad, where a potato shed, now a national monument, was used to torture dozens of kidnapped regime opponents.
But on the inside too, abuse was rife.
Schaefer was captured in 2005 on charges of sexually abusing dozens of minors over nearly half a century. He died in prison five years later while in preventive custody.
His arrest, and those of 20 other accomplices, marked a turning point for the colony, which had been rebranded Villa Baviera a decade previously.
Suddenly, residents were free to marry, live with their children, send them to school and earn a paycheck.
Some of the settlers returned to Germany.
Others remained behind and built a thriving agribusiness and resort, where tourists can sample traditional German fare, such as sauerkraut.
Some residents feel that Chile, which for decades turned a blind eye to the fate of the enclave’s children, now wants to make them pay for the sins of their fathers.
“One feels a kind of revenge against us,” said Markus Blanck, one of the colony’s business directors, whose father was charged as an accomplice of Schaefer’s abuse but died before being sentenced.
The government argues that the expropriations are in the public interest.
“There is a national interest here in preserving our country’s historical heritage,” Justice Minister Jaime Gajardo told AFP, assuring that those expropriated would be properly compensated.
Memorial site
While several sites of torture under the Chilean dictatorship have been turned into memorial sites, Gajardo said the memorial at Villa Baviera would be the biggest yet, similar to those created at former Nazi concentration camps in Europe.
It is not yet clear whether it will take the form solely of a museum or whether visitors will also be able to roam the site, including Schaefer’s house and the infamous potato shed.
The clock is ticking down for Boric to make the memorial a reality before his term runs out in March 2026.
His government wants to proceed quickly, for fear that the project be buried by a future right-wing government loathe to dwell on the abuses of the Pinochet era.