Philippines in process of accepting Afghan refugees until US issues special immigration visas

The Philippines said on Wednesday that it is working on accepting Afghan refugees who worked on various US government projects in Afghanistan, but that they will remain in the Southeast Asian country temporarily until Washington issues special immigration visas.

"The government is carefully studying the proposal," the state-run Philippines News Agency reported, citing a text message from Philippines Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, who added that the request was made in October 2022.

“I’m glad Sen. Imee (Marcos) is calling a Senate inquiry on Friday so that all the concerns will be addressed. No Afghans will remain in the country once they are processed for US special immigrant visa,” he stated in the message.

The fleeing Afghans will be vetted, but if their visas are turned down, "they will be repatriated back to Afghanistan," the ambassador said, adding that the chances of this happening are about ".0001 percent."

Many Afghans worked for foreign missions in Afghanistan during the nearly two decades of operations by the US and its allies against the Taliban following their ouster in October 2001, which ended with their abrupt return to power in August 2021.

Romualdez stated that the "pure processing" of special immigration visas for Afghans and their families who previously worked for the US government and "whose lives are in danger."

The US has evacuated more than 24,000 Afghans since September 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

"Thanks to our state and local partners, thanks to the generosity of our fellow citizens, we’ve relocated more than 24,000 Afghans to the United States and third countries since September 2021," Blinken made the remarks at a ceremony for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Afghan Evac Coalition and the US State Department in Washington.

Overall, Washington has relocated more than 97,000 Afghans to the US, who Blinken said are going to school, starting new jobs, and settling into their communities inside the US.

Thousands of Afghans who claim to have worked on various US projects in Afghanistan are currently living in neighboring countries after fleeing the war-torn Central Asian nation and waiting for Washington to accept them as refugees.