MANILA: Hundreds of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington.

The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US visa-processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals who had worked for American forces in Afghanistan and were left behind during their chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.

A group of about 300 Afghan nationals arrived from Kabul on Monday and were issued “the appropriate Philippine entry visa,” said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.

“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippine national security agencies,” Daza added

“As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing.”

The applicants were also vetted by US security agencies and had undergone medical screening prior to their arrival.

The group of Afghans will stay at a billet facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and are only permitted to leave for their embassy consular interviews

Under the Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no longer than 59 days.

The Philippines was chosen as a location for the visa processing as the US Embassy in Manila is “one of the largest” and “has the capacity to process them efficiently and smoothly without having to sacrifice the normal operations,” a Philippine official said.

The Afghan nationals who are processing their visas in the Philippines comprised mostly children and “will be the only group” under the agreement between Manila and Washington, a US State Department official told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.

More than 160,000 Afghans sought resettlement when the Taliban took over Afghanistan as international forces withdrew from the country in 2021 — two decades after the US invaded it.

Thousands of others are in third countries awaiting visa processing. Many of them had worked for the US government.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday won an appeal to pursue his bid to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.