Philippines to mull plan to temporarily host Afghans

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Senate's foreign relations committee will discuss a plan on Friday to temporarily house thousands of Afghans awaiting resettlement in the United States.

The Philippines received a request from the United States in October to temporarily host the Afghans, Manila's envoy to Washington told CNN Philippines in an interview Thursday.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said under the proposal, Afghans who had worked for the US government would be issued special immigration visas to be processed at a facility in the Philippines.

"The information that we so far have received is that there are about 50,000, which includes the families of the Afghan citizens who worked with the United States government."

A schedule of Senate hearings for Friday noted that the Foreign Relations committee would discuss "proposed temporary housing" in the country for Afghan applicants.

Contacted by AFP, the Philippine foreign ministry refused to comment on the plans.

A US embassy spokesman in Manila told reporters: "We do not comment on ongoing diplomatic discussions".

"The (US President Joe) Biden Administration remains committed to the thousands of brave Afghans who stood side by side with the United States over the course of the past two decades," the spokesman added.

US and allied forces pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021 to end America's longest war, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Tens of thousands of Afghans fled their country in the chaotic evacuation of August 2021.

Many of those who had worked with the ousted Western-backed government arrived in the United States seeking resettlement under a special immigrant visa programme.

But thousands were also left behind, waiting for their visas to be processed.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers insist no harm will come to anyone who collaborated with Western powers or the former government, and are encouraging those who have left to return and help rebuild the country.