MANILA: Up to 300 Afghans arrived in the Philippines on Monday on temporary stays while being processed for US resettlement, Philippine and US officials said.
\nThe Philippines and the United States signed an agreement last July allowing possibly hundreds of Afghans to stay in Manila while their US Special Immigrant visas were being processed.
\nThis was despite domestic opposition in the Catholic-majority country over security and other concerns.
\n\u201cThe DFA issued the appropriate Philippine entry visa to these applicants in line with current rules and regulations,\u201d Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Teresita Daza said in a statement.
\n\u201cAll applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippines national security agencies.\u201d
\nA US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not be specific about the number involved other than to say \u201cup to 300.\u201d
\nUnder the deal, the US government will shoulder the cost of the Afghans\u2019 stays in Manila, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation, the Philippine DFA statement said.
\nThe Afghans will stay at a facility operated by the US State Department\u2019s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, an earlier US Embassy statement said.
\nDaza had previously said the Afghans could stay for no more than 59 days and would be \u201cconfined to their billet facility\u201d except for embassy interviews.
\nThe applicants all underwent medical screening in Afghanistan.
\nTens of thousands of Afghans fled their country in the chaotic evacuation of August 2021 as US and allied forces pulled out to end Washington\u2019s longest war, launched after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
\nMany 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA: Up to 300 Afghans arrived in the Philippines on Monday on temporary stays while being processed for US resettlement, Philippine and US officials said. The Philippines and the United States signed an agreement last July allowing possibly hundreds of Afghans to stay in Manila while their US Special Immigrant visas were being processed. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-453784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n