Faber-Castell says it was unaware its facility was being used to detain asylum seekers deported by the Trump administration

The world’s largest pencil maker has accused the Costa Rican government of misusing an old factory that the German manufacturer donated for humanitarian purposes – by detaining asylum seekers there who were deported from the US by the Trump administration last year.

Faber-Castell produces more than 2bn wooden pencils a year worldwide and used to have a factory in the southern part of Costa Rica, bordering Panama and supplied by trees cultivated in the region.