Marcos says Afghan refugees' PH stay still under study
Published Jun 29, 2023 06:07 am
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. bared there is yet to be a deal between the Philippines and United States on the request to house Afghan refugees in the country.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Ali Vicoy)
The matter, he said, will have to be further studied and see if it would work, given the security concerns it has. "Well, there are many issues involved in that question that is why I was a little surprised when I saw some of the news reports there is, there’s a deal between the US, there is no deal," Marcos said in a media interview on Thursday, June 29. He said while the Philippines has a long tradition of housing refugees, this case is different. "They are an entirely different class of persons, they are Afghan nationals who are being resettled by the United States in the United States and or other places. We are only going to be a how do you say, a transition area," he explained. "This is something different, this is not something that we have encountered before," he added. The President said this has to go through thorough discussion and planning, considering the security risks and legal and logistical issues. He stressed that although there is yet to be a deal between the Philippines and US, they continue to discuss the matter as the country wants to help. "We will continue to study. Let’s see if there is a way we can do it without endangering the security of the Philippines, we will see if we can actually manage it and to make sure that if things start to go not as planned, ano ‘yong mga pwede nating gawin (what we can do)," Marcos said. He added that there is still quite a few issues that he has to hammer out with the Americans. "In principle, we would like to help. We took in the Vietnam(ese) boat people. We took in the German Jews during the war. Ganyan naman ang ugali ng Pilipino e, na matulungin tayo (That's our trait, we love to help). But again we have to make sure that it is not something that will affect the lives of ordinary Filipinos," Marcos said. [Washington has requested Manila to allow Afghan refugees in the country](https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/14/us-request-to-manila-to-take-afghan-refugees-only-covers-former-gov-t-workers-envoy). These are those who worked for the US government and whose lives are in danger. Ambassador to US Jose Manuel Romualdez said no Afghans will remain in the country once they are processed for US special immigrant visa.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Ali Vicoy)
The matter, he said, will have to be further studied and see if it would work, given the security concerns it has. "Well, there are many issues involved in that question that is why I was a little surprised when I saw some of the news reports there is, there’s a deal between the US, there is no deal," Marcos said in a media interview on Thursday, June 29. He said while the Philippines has a long tradition of housing refugees, this case is different. "They are an entirely different class of persons, they are Afghan nationals who are being resettled by the United States in the United States and or other places. We are only going to be a how do you say, a transition area," he explained. "This is something different, this is not something that we have encountered before," he added. The President said this has to go through thorough discussion and planning, considering the security risks and legal and logistical issues. He stressed that although there is yet to be a deal between the Philippines and US, they continue to discuss the matter as the country wants to help. "We will continue to study. Let’s see if there is a way we can do it without endangering the security of the Philippines, we will see if we can actually manage it and to make sure that if things start to go not as planned, ano ‘yong mga pwede nating gawin (what we can do)," Marcos said. He added that there is still quite a few issues that he has to hammer out with the Americans. "In principle, we would like to help. We took in the Vietnam(ese) boat people. We took in the German Jews during the war. Ganyan naman ang ugali ng Pilipino e, na matulungin tayo (That's our trait, we love to help). But again we have to make sure that it is not something that will affect the lives of ordinary Filipinos," Marcos said. [Washington has requested Manila to allow Afghan refugees in the country](https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/14/us-request-to-manila-to-take-afghan-refugees-only-covers-former-gov-t-workers-envoy). These are those who worked for the US government and whose lives are in danger. Ambassador to US Jose Manuel Romualdez said no Afghans will remain in the country once they are processed for US special immigrant visa.