KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The government of the Philippines has agreed to permit a limited number of Afghan nationals to stay in the country while they complete their US visa process.
In a statement on Monday, August 19, the US Department of State announced the development, stating that the US will provide necessary support services for Afghans temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, security, medical care, and transportation.
“The United States appreciates its long and positive history of bilateral cooperation with the Philippines and thanks the Philippine government for supporting Afghan allies of the United States,” the statement reads.
The State Department did not provide further details about the agreement; however, officials from both countries began negotiations last year after President Joe Biden raised the issue with his Philippine counterpart in May.
Earlier, Philippine Ambassador to the US, Jose Manuel Romualdez, revealed that approximately 50,000 visa seekers, including their family members, will stay in the Philippines for up to 59 days while processing their visas at the US embassy there.
Tens of thousands of Afghans and their families were evacuated abroad during a round-the-clock airlift from Kabul in August 2021, as they fled the country following the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban’s capture of the capital.
Since then, the US government has reportedly resettled over 160,000 Afghans, including those who directly supported the US government, their family members, and other Afghans at risk of Taliban retaliation.
However, thousands of at-risk Afghans, including those who worked with US government initiatives over the past two decades, remain in Afghanistan or neighboring countries, primarily Pakistan, awaiting US visas.
The Associated Press (AP) reported last year that about 150,000 applications for the Special Immigration Visa (SIV), the US government program for individuals who worked with the US, remain unprocessed.
In addition to the SIV program, there are two other refugee designations available to Afghans: PI and P2. These programs are intended for aid workers, journalists, and others who, while not directly employed by the US government, contributed to promoting democracy and independent media during the two decades of US involvement in Afghanistan.
According to the AP report, approximately 27,400 applicants have applied for the P1 and P2 programs, but only a very limited number have been processed and relocated to the US.
In its report last year, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) criticized the various resettlement programs for Afghans and the lack of transparency surrounding these programs.
The US government watchdog said these issues left Afghan citizens uncertain about whether to leave their country to await processing, lacking the “critical information” needed for such a crucial decision.
“Bureaucratic dysfunction and understaffing have undermined the US promise that these individuals would be protected in a timely manner, putting many thousands of Afghan allies at risk,” SIGAR said.
