Up to 300 Afghans arrive in Philippines for US visa processing

MANILA: Up to 300 Afghans arrived in the Philippines on Monday on temporary stays while being processed for US resettlement, Philippine and US officials said.

The Philippines and the United States signed an agreement last July allowing possibly hundreds of Afghans to stay in Manila while their US Special Immigrant visas were being processed.

This was despite domestic opposition in the Catholic-majority country over security and other concerns.

“The DFA issued the appropriate Philippine entry visa to these applicants in line with current rules and regulations,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Teresita Daza said in a statement.

“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippines national security agencies.”

A US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not be specific about the number involved other than to say “up to 300”.

Under the deal, the US government will shoulder the cost of the Afghans’ stays in Manila, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation, the Philippine DFA statement said.

The Afghans will stay at a facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, an earlier US Embassy statement said.

Daza had previously said the Afghans could stay for no more than 59 days and would be “confined to their billet facility” except for embassy interviews.

The applicants all underwent medical screening in Afghanistan.

Tens of thousands of Afghans fled their country in the chaotic evacuation of August 2021 as US and allied forces pulled out to end Washington’s longest war, launched after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Many of those who had worked with the ousted Western-backed government arrived in the United States seeking resettlement under a special immigrant visa programme, but thousands were also left behind or in third countries, waiting for their visas to be processed.