President Joe Biden (right) shakes hands with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on May 1, 2023. – AP
MANILA: The Philippines has agreed to a request by the United States to temporarily host a US immigrant visa processing centre for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America, the treaty allies announced Tuesday (Aug 20).
The Philippine government’s approval of the request, which initially faced local concerns over potential security and legal issues, reflects how relations between Manila and Washington have deepened under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who took office in 2022.
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."
The Afghan nationals to be considered for resettlement primarily worked for the US government in Afghanistan or were deemed eligible for US special immigrant visas but were left behind when Washington withdrew from the country as Taliban militants took back power in a chaotic period in 2021.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken first relayed the request to his Philippine counterpart in 2022, and President Joe Biden discussed the request when Marcos visited the United States last year, Philippine officials said.
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 program 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.
Marcos has rekindled relations with the US since winning the presidency with a landslide margin two years ago.
In February last year, he allowed an expansion of the American military presence under a 2014 defense agreement in a decision that China warned would allow American forces to gain a staging ground to intervene in the South China Sea and Taiwan issues and threaten regional stability. – AP
