Afghans in U.S. detention centers treated "like criminals, animals": media

DOHA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Afghan people are suffering in U.S. detention centers and being treated "like criminals and animals," said a recent report by the English news website of Al Jazeera.

Afghan people, who are desperate to escape worsening economic and humanitarian circumstances, find themselves trapped in U.S. immigration detention centers, with more than 100 people in a single room meant to accommodate less than 20, said the report published by the Qatar-based media on Wednesday.

An anonymous Afghan national said he and his wife fled to the United States, thinking everything would be fine, but the reality turned out to be the opposite, according to the report.

"We thought our problems had been solved, that we had escaped the risk of prison and torture in Afghanistan. We didn't know that this was what awaited us in the U.S.," the report quoted the man as saying.

Facing perilous conditions in their home country and a limited path to refuge and legal immigration to the United States, numerous Afghans are forced to take dangerous journeys to irregularly enter the country. However, a big chunk of them have become entangled in the U.S. immigration detention system, confronting the risk of deportation, according to the report.