Philippines to host Afghans awaiting resettlement in US

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said the agreement was undergoing final domestic procedures before it takes effect. It did not provide other details, including how many Afghans would be allowed to temporarily stay in the Philippines at any time while their special immigrant visas for resettlement to the US are being completed.

“The US government is supporting necessary services for those Afghans temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, security, medical and transportation to complete visa processing,” the Philippine foreign affairs department said in a statement.

The US thanked the Philippines in a statement by the State Department “for supporting Afghan allies of the United States” and added that it “appreciates its long and positive history of bilateral cooperation with the Philippines”.

Marcos said last year that he was told by American officials that a maximum of 1,000 Afghan nationals would be allowed to stay in the Philippines at any one time while their special immigrant visas are being processed.

He said at the time there were difficult legal and logistical issues to address for the programme to run as hoped.

Some Filipino officials have expressed fears the Afghan nationals could become targets of attacks while in the Philippines. Others raised legal questions about an arrangement where US authorities would have a say in vetting who could enter the Philippines.

One prospective problem is what to do with Afghan nationals whose US special visa immigrant application is indefinitely stalled or rejected, Marcos said and expressed concern that thousands of Afghan nationals could be stranded in the country while awaiting relocation to the US.