The national government is evaluating the request of the United States (US) to temporarily shelter over 50,000 Afghans nationals in the country, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said on Friday.

“It's a request from the United States government. The request is currently under evaluation,” Garafil said in a brief statement.

Meanwhile, in a separate press statement, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Teresita Daza said that the country is discussing the temporary relocation of Afghan nationals while they await their Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) application in the United States.

She noted that the government will only shelter Afghan nationals who used to work in the US government offices and their qualified family members.

“While the proposed arrangement is humanitarian in nature, it will not involve the admission or hosting of Afghan refugees,” Daza added.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Friday afternoon, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo assured Senators that once the plan will be pushed through, a security and background check on Afghan nationals will be conducted.

"[This is] to verify that they indeed previously work with the US government because these would be Afghans who had work before with the US government,

The US government will shoulder all the expenses of Afghan nationals, Enrique said.

"We also mentioned to them [US] that any arrangement would be up to the Philippines to impose mobility restriction and internal mobility within the Philippines," the Foreign Affairs Secretary said.

In August 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans fled their country due to conflict, violence, poverty, and food insecurity.

Many of those who had worked with the ousted Western-backed government arrived in the United States seeking resettlement under a special immigrant visa program. But thousands were also left behind, waiting for their visas to be processed.