What’s the fuss about bringing Afghans to the Philippines?

By Malou TalosigBartolome

In filing Senate Resolution 651, the sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wanted to know the “real intention” behind the US request to accommodate the “Afghan refugees in a temporary housing program.” Although still in recess, the Senate foreign relations committee summoned officials from various agencies from the Executive Department and held a committee hearing Friday.

Based on the discussions during the Senate committee hearing and interviews from sources of the BusinessMirror, here are the highlights of the US request:

1. First, the US has sent feelers, asking the Philippines if the latter can temporarily accommodate Afghans who worked for them in Afghanistan and wanted to resettle permanently in the US together with their families. They are not “refugees,” as strictly defined under the US laws and international convention.

2. The historical context:

· The US waged war in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. During the 20 years of war, the US employed thousands of Afghans in the US Embassy in Kabul, as well as interpreters and guides for their military personnel.

· Two years before the US pulled out of Afghanistan, US Congress passed a law allowing eligible Afghans to apply for permanent residency under the so-called Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program.

· To qualify for the SIV, Afghans must be employed by or on behalf of the US government in Afghanistan, provided “faithful and valuable service” to the US government, and experienced or experiencing an ongoing serious threat following their association with the Americans. Most of the first batch of approved SIV applicants fled to the US on their own.

· W hen the US government decided to pull out of Afghanistan in 2021, it brought with them 36,821 Afghan SIV applicants.

Unfortunately, thousands of SIV applicants remained in Afghanistan. According to human-rights groups, these former US employees have become targets of the new Taliban regime. Many of these applicants are women, or have women and children as dependents.

· Since the US Embassy in Kabul has suspended operations, the US State Department had to process SIV applications through other US embassies in other countries like Pakistan or Qatar.

· According to the US State Department, a total of 8,950 SIV applicants were relocated from Afghanistan for continued Afghan SIV processing from September 2021 to February 2023.

· A s of March 2023, there are still 152,301 Afghan SIV holders and applicants in Afghanistan.

3. US request to the Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said US President Joe Biden mentioned briefly the request to accommodate the Afghan

SIV applicants during the visit of President Marcos Jr. in May.

· Manalo said the US State Department submitted a concept note which the DFA has submitted to various security and relevant agencies for comment. He read some parts of the concept note during the hearing:

* A ll Afghans will be traveling with valid passports, and would “have already undergone rigorous security briefings and background checks” by the US chief of mission.

* A ll costs will be shouldered by the US government.

* US and the Philippine governments will determine the suitable site to house the Afghans including children.

* The Philippines will impose mobility restrictions

SENATOR Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Relations, seeks clarification from Department of Foreign Affairs officials, led by Secretary Enrique Manalo, as to why the United States has chosen the Philippines as one of the countries to temporarily house Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants from Afghanistan. Presiding at a committee inquiry Friday, June 16, 2023, Marcos pointed out that if the US is unable or unwilling to temporarily accommodate the SIV applicants, “why don’t they consider US territories such as Guam, Puerto Rico, and Guantanamo?”

In response, Manalo said that aside from being a partner and a treaty ally, the Philippines’s long tradition of providing humanitarian assistance was also considered by the US. SENATE PRIB to comment on their requests when pressed by reporters. “We do not comment on ongoing diplomatic discussions,” he said. · “ The Biden administration remains committed to the thousands of brave Afghans who stood sideby-side with the US over the course of the past two decades,” Dove said in a message sent to reporters.

* The US committed no one would be left behind in the Philippines, including those who will be denied visas

· The US has not provided the number of Afghans it is requesting the Philippine government to host. Philippine Ambassador to Washington DC Jose “Babe” Romualdez said the numbers may go up to 50,000 including children, although the US State Department said the number may be negotiated.

· Manalo said there was a suggestion among DFA officials to accommodate a small number, “probably a thousand applicants for a pilot program.”

· US law requires that SIV applicants be extended the same benefits as refugees—transportation and resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and others.

· US Embassy in Manila acting spokesman Stephen Dove refused

4. Why the Philippines?

· R anking diplomatic sources said the US Embassy in Manila is the second largest US consular mission in the world. Given the consular capacity in Manila, the US thought of transporting the SIV Afghan applicants to the Philippines for processing of their visa application. During the Senate hearing, Manalo said that aside from being a defense treaty ally of the Americans, the Philippines has a long-

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