MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines has agreed to a request from the United States to temporarily host a Processing a US immigrant visa As the contracting parties announced on Tuesday, a center is to be created for a limited number of Afghan citizens who wish to settle in the United States.
The Philippine government’s agreement to this request, which initially met with local concerns about 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 Foreign Ministry in Manila said the agreement was currently going through final domestic formalities and would need to be ratified by Marcos before it could take effect. It did not provide further details, such as how many Afghans would be allowed to stay temporarily in the Philippines while their special immigrant visas for resettlement in the United States are processed.
However, a senior Philippine official told the Associated Press that only 150 to 300 applicants would be accommodated in the Philippines under the “one-time” deal. The official, who was aware of the negotiations, agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Assistant Secretary Teresita Daza said Afghan citizens must apply for a visa to enter the Philippines and will undergo a “full security screening.” Each visa applicant will be restricted to staying for no more than 59 days.
The US government will cover the costs of the Afghan nationals’ stay, including food, accommodation, security, medical care and transportation, Daza said. She added that the US government and the International Organization for Migration, as administrators of the unspecified facility where the Afghan visa applicants would be housed, would ensure that they receive adequate social, educational, religious and other support.
The United States thanked the Philippines in a State Department statement “for supporting the United States’ Afghan allies,” adding that it “appreciates their long and positive history of bilateral cooperation with the Philippines.”
The Afghan nationals eligible for resettlement were primarily working for the U.S. government in Afghanistan or were eligible for a special U.S. immigrant visa, but were left behind when Washington withdrew from the country as Taliban fighters regained power during a chaotic period in 2021.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken first raised the request with 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 American officials told him that a maximum of 1,000 Afghan citizens would be allowed to stay in the Philippines at one time while their special immigrant visas were being processed.
He said at the time that difficult legal and logistical issues had to be resolved for the program to go ahead as hoped.
Some Philippine officials have expressed concern that Afghan nationals could be targeted while in the Philippines. Others have raised legal concerns about an agreement that gives U.S. authorities a say in screening for entry into the Philippines.
One potential problem is what to do with Afghan nationals whose application for a special U.S. visa is stalled indefinitely or rejected, Marcos said, expressing concern that thousands of Afghan nationals could be stranded in the country while they wait to resettle in the United States.
Marcos has revived relations with the United States since he overwhelmingly won the presidency two years ago.
In February last year, he allowed a Expansion of the American military presence The decision was made as part of a 2014 defense agreement. China warned that it would give American forces a launching pad for intervention in the South China Sea and Taiwan, endangering regional stability.
