A “LIMITED number” of Afghan nationals arrived in Manila yesterday with their dependents and will be temporarily housed in a designated facility while waiting for their US visas, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The Afghans have worked for the US government but were left behind when the Taliban once again seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. They will be staying in the country — no longer than 59 days, visa or no visa — while the US Embassy in Manila processes their special immigrant visas (SIVs).
“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippines’ national security agencies. They also underwent full medical screening prior to their arrival in the Philippines,” said DFA spokesperson Ma. Theresa Daza.
“The DFA issued the appropriate Philippine entry visa to these applicants in line with current rules and regulations,” she added.
Daza did not say how many Afghans arrived yesterday but earlier reports said the Philippines will host only up to 300 Afghan nationals while they complete their special visa applications before being resettled to the United States.
To recall, the Philippine government last year agreed to Washington’s request to serve as a temporary SIV processing site for Afghan nationals.
Daza said Manila will not incur any expenses for the Afghan’s temporary stay as Washington will be the one providing food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete the SIV processing.
She said the US government also assured the DFA that it will not affect the normal processing of immigrant and non-immigrant visas for Filipinos.
“The department acknowledges the support of partners in the Philippine government for the timely and coordinated implementation of the agreement,” Daza further said.
The DFA said the transiting Afghans will be restricted in a designated facility and will be allowed to leave the facility only when they are called to the US Embassy for the processing of their SIV application.
The processing of each applicant by the US Embassy here should be completed within that 59-day period.
Last year, Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said Manila should accept Washington’s request which was first raised with the Philippine Embassy in Washington in October 2022.
President Joe Biden briefly raised the issue with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the latter’s state visit to Washington in May 2023.
Romualdez cited the country’s acceptance of refugees, including Vietnamese when the Saigon government fell to communist forces from Hanoi in 1975, Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi rule before World War II, and the White Russians who escaped their country after the Bolsheviks’ take over and the subsequent civil war there in 1917.
After Kabul fell to Taliban forces in 2021 following the withdrawal of the US-led coalition forces, then-DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the country also took in Afghan nationals “including women and kids.”
