A 54-year-old man has been deported back to Afghanistan after 18 years living legally in the Netherlands, leaving his wife and children behind.

Feda Amiri was put on a KLM plane under escort on Monday afternoon, the AD reports.

Amiri was given an indefinite residency permit in 2000 and applied for Dutch nationality in 2006. That was refused because Amiri had worked as an officer for the Afghan police during the period of Soviet rule. The Netherlands considers everyone who worked for the police as a potential torturer and refuses them the right to asylum.

His lawyer, Bart Toemen, says Amiri would probably still be in the Netherlands had he not applied for a Dutch passport.

His wife and three children, who are all in their 20s, remain in the Netherlands.

Daughter Tamara told the AD she fears for her father’s life in Afghanistan. ‘Since he left for the Netherlands, he has been regarded as a traitor,’ she said. ‘This will be his death.’