The identity of Afghan nationals still needs to be evaluated before the Philippines can accept them as refugees, the Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified yesterday.
“If Afghan nationals do arrive in the Philippines and apply for permanent status as refugees, the Department of Justice Refugees and Stateless Persons Unit will evaluate whether they meet the international standards for refugee status,” said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
The secretary announced this after Malacañang’s statement that the Philippines is ready to receive refugees from Afghanistan, which is now under siege by the Taliban.
“Welcome po ang mga asylum seekers sa Pilipinas (Asylum seekers are welcome in the Philippines),” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said, citing previous instance when the country offered haven to the Jews during the Holocaust.
“Lahat po ng kinakilangan ng kalinga dahil sila po ay pinepersecute sa kanilang bayan, meron po kayong lugar dito sa Pilipinas (To those in need of refuge because they are persecuted in their homeland, you have a place in the Philippines),” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte said before a virtual United Nations General Assembly last year that the Philippines is safe for refugees. He cited humanitarian tradition under the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
Acceptance of Afghan refugees still needs to be examined – DOJ
Duterte said the country’s doors were open “to everyone fleeing for safety, such as the Rohingyas. He mentioned the country’s previous aid given to the White Russians following the 1917 Revolution, the European Jews in the Second World War, the Vietnamese in the late 1960s, and the Iranians displaced by the 1979 revolution.
But Guevarra stressed that it is necessary to know first if the applicant is also a threat to the national security of the Philippines, so it is necessary to check their background first.
The National Bureau of Investigation and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency can be mobilized here.
“Upon determination and grant of refugee status by the DOJ, the Bureau of Immigration will implement the decision and issue the appropriate documentation to the applicant,” said Guevarra.