PHILIPPINES Washington requests to resettle 50,000 Afghan refugees in the Philippines. Manila opposes

The US talks about “temporary relocation” to other countries. The Philippine government has not yet made a decision, but some senators have already raised their doubts. The president’s sister expressed fear that some refugees could be American spies. Meanwhile, asylum seekers who had worked with the US military find themselves stranded in other countries, where they are often persecuted.

Manila () – Some Philippine officials and politicians have opposed Washington’s request to temporarily house some 50,000 Afghan refugees before they are transferred to the United States. “Although the proposed agreement is of a humanitarian nature, it will not entail the admission or reception of Afghan refugees,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

The application had already been submitted to Manila in October last year, explained the Philippine ambassador to Washington and cousin of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, José Manuel “Babe” Romualdez. He stressed that, should the request be granted, the US would cover all costs. In his intervention before the Senate, he also specified that these are not refugees, but former employees of the US government, who will arrive in blocks of about 1,000 people at a time.

With the return of the Taliban to power on August 15, 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked with the US military or media were evacuated to neighboring Pakistan and other countries where their applications for US visas are being considered. However, the government in Washington, after almost two years, still has to examine some 150,000 applications. Pakistan prevented US officials tasked with interviewing refugees from entering the country, hampering the establishment of resettlement centers. Meanwhile, the residence permits of asylum seekers who have managed to obtain them regularly have expired in the last 18 months. Without documents, Afghans cannot study or work and are arbitrarily returned to the border or detained by local authoritieswho often demand money with threats.

Ambassador Romualdez specified that the United States limited itself to asking for help to process the visas, which will be issued by a special facility in the Philippines. As the Manila government stated that it is evaluating the proposal (a decision is expected to be made in mid-July), Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister and head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, launched an investigation into the deal. , expressing their doubts that some refugees may be working as spies for Americans: “In the last year, espionage and security threats have increased significantly due to the sharp escalation of tension between rival superpowers,” the senator told a parliamentary hearing. “Aren’t we concerned about the fact that the United States no longer wants to welcome these foreigners into its territory? They affirm that the security risk will be very low, that only highly controlled groups will arrive and that special visas for immigrants are assured, and However, they don’t want them,” Marcos continued.

The National Bureau of Investigation and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency stated that they feared that terrorist “sleeper cells” could be activated, and even Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo, opposed Washington’s request, stating that the The proposal could undermine the sovereignty of the country: “It seems that the verification process will be carried out by the United States. Therefore, it is an interference in our sole determination of who can enter our country,” one of the their spokesmen.