Philippines starts temporarily hosting Afghans seeking US visas

MANILA, January 7 ------ The Philippines began hosting up to 300 Afghan nationals who were waiting for resettlement in the United States. The Afghan applicants of US Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) arrived in the Philippines aboard a chartered flight.

Both the Philippine and US governments said the Afghan nationals were not refugees nor security threats. Instead, they are composed of individuals and families, who worked for the US government throughout its military operations in Afghanistan from 2001 until August 2021. This makes them eligible for the SIV, a global program that gives foreign nationals employed by the US government an opportunity to have lawful permanent residence in the US, along with the chance to eventually become a US citizen.

Manila and Washington said all the Afghan applicants underwent strict security vetting by the intelligence authorities. They were also required to undergo a medical screening in the Afghan capital city of Kabul and secure the appropriate entry visa to the Philippines prior to boarding flights bound for Manila. “These are people we know, these are people we trust…Some fought with us on the battlefield, but many worked with us day in and day out at our embassy and facilities around the country…They took the chance to come and work for us,” a US State Department official said.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, it launched military operations in Afghanistan to overthrow the Talibans, who harbored and hosted Al-Qaeda terrorists. But the Talibans had a resurgence and seized Kabul on August 15, 2021, forcing the collapse of the Afghan government and prompting US President Joe Biden to order a hasty evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan, shutting down the US embassy in Kabul and ending two decades of political and military engagement in the country.

Tens of thousands of Afghans fled their country in a chaotic evacuation. Many of those who had worked with the ousted Western-backed government arrived in the United States seeking resettlement under a special immigrant visa program, but thousands were also left behind or in third countries, waiting for their visas to be processed. “We were fighting the Taliban, but we were also trying to build education and we were trying to build public health to get the children there a better future…thousands of everyday Afghans shared our hopes and our dreams,” the US State Department official said.

According to the US State Department official, the US government turned to many of its allies for help in the evacuation and resettlement of its Afghan employees and their families, which requires temporary transit to a location with US consular operations. The Philippines was an ideal choice for having one of the largest US diplomatic missions in the world and direct flights to the US. The Philippine government confirmed in June 2023 that Biden personally made the request to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the latter’s visit to Washington in May 2023. Marcos in July of the same year said that the Philippine government was seriously considering but carefully evaluating the request to address potential issues and security concerns. Eventually, an agreement was reached on July 29, 2024 and ratified on September 25.

“After all of the discussions with the US, after all the discussions between our two intelligence communities, I think they came to that shared conclusion that this was something that was doable, within the parameters of risk and the parameters that we were comfortable with,” a Philippine government official privy to the negotiations said. “We have been given the assurances by the consular section of the Embassy here that they would be able to process them within the prescribed period. But at the same time, not hampering local operations,” he continued.

Under the agreement, the “prescribed period” is a maximum of 100 days for the entire project, commencing from the arrival of the first SIV applicant. This means that as the first Afghan SIV applicants arrive on Monday, the US Embassy will have until April 16 to complete the processing for all 300 of them before the deal terminates. Each applicant must be processed within a 59-day period. To ensure this, the Afghan SIV applicants were given a Philippine entry visa that only allows for a 59-day stay each. “It’s not a visa that doesn't exist…we settled on one particular visa category that is appropriate and applies to these individuals, with the limitation of 59 days,” the Philippine official further explained.

The Afghan SIV applicants will be confined at an undisclosed billet facility and will only be allowed to leave its premises once, for a consular interview at the US Embassy in Manila. The agreement states that all expenses for the sustainment of the Afghan SIV applicants will be shouldered by the US government. The US government must also ensure the well-being of all the applicants, especially since many of them are children.

The US government, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will act as the billet facility managers to ensure that all applicants will have adequate social, educational, religious and emotional support during their temporary stay in the Philippines. “As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing,” the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “The US Embassy has also assured that the program will not impact the normal processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for Filipinos,” it added.

Once SIVs are issued, the Afghan nationals and their families will be flown straight to the US. But in the case of a visa denial, the US government will facilitate the transfer of the applicant to another platform or country. “We're very grateful to you, your government, the Filipino people, for helping us to fulfill our promise to them, that we would give them a pathway to another opportunity and safety,” the US State Department official said. Aside from the Philippines, the US is also processing SIV applications in two other platforms or countries. “The Department acknowledges the support of partners in the Philippine government for the timely and coordinated implementation of the Agreement,” the DFA said.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com