'Uncompensated Allies': Report Details How US Stiffed Foreign Workers in Afghanistan

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/20/uncompensated-allies-report-details-how-us-stiffed-foreign-workers-afghanistan

'Uncompensated Allies': Report Details How US Stiffed Foreign Workers in Afghanistan

Tens of thousands of foreign workers supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon has failed to compensate many for injuries they suffered on the job.

JULIA CONLEY
December 20, 2022

Many foreign workers who aided the U.S. military by working on bases in Afghanistan during the 20-year occupation—and were more likely than Americans to be killed or injured by bombings—have received little to no compensation for injuries or death, despite the fact that U.S. law requires the Pentagon to recompense them and their families.

"While this research looks specifically at Afghanistan, it's clear that this type of labor exploitation will persist there and elsewhere until there is accountability for these U.S. government abuses."

That's according to a new report published Tuesday by the Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, which has for more than a decade worked to account for the total cost—in dollars, human lives, and public health consequences—of the United States' post-9/11 wars.

Bennington College anthropology professor Noah Coburn and journalist Peter Gill authored the report, titled Uncompensated Allies, detailing the experiences of more than 200 people who were among the tens of thousands who traveled to Afghanistan from countries such as Nepal and the Philippines to work as guards, cooks, and construction workers for companies contracted by the Pentagon.

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