Now Uganda, home to Africa’s largest refugee population, is on the hot seat. The country has recently signed a “temporary arrangement” with the United States to accept foreign migrants deported by the US. This deal is just one piece of a bigger U.S. strategy to deter immigration. It has generated considerable controversy within Uganda, with prominent Ugandans questioning whether it will squander the country’s already stretched resources.
The Ugandan Foreign Ministry stipulated that those with criminal records should not be accepted. They further announced that unaccompanied minors would not be accepted under this deal. Beyond this, Uganda showed a strong interest in resettling migrants from within Africa as opposed to those coming from outside of the continent.
Uganda has long had a reputation as a model in refugee integration and currently hosts close to two million refugees. Most of these people are refugees themselves, having fled warfare in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For decades, our nation has opened the door to refugees in search of safety and stability. Those critics argue this new deal would only exacerbate their current plight.
Uganda has now joined the ranks as the fourth African nation to receive foreign US deportees. It is now the fourth country after Rwanda, South Sudan and Eswatini to enter into such agreements. President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, prepares hard for re-election during the upcoming general elections. He went into detail about this unprecedented deal in his recent interview with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Some commenters are warning against the possible consequences of this deal, especially with Uganda’s presidential elections on the horizon. Critics have cautioned that the influx of returning deported migrants could further stretch the country’s already scarce resources. These resources are already stretched thin due to the existing refugee population.
“It’s a deal that helps relieve the US of its burden … but bears little for Uganda,” – Raymond Mujuni.
Mujuni raised concerns about whether the deal would provide enough benefits to Uganda. The country is overwhelmed with one of the highest refugee populations in the world already. The worries go beyond the logistics and they get into the politics, too.
“The agreement between the US and Uganda may shield the Ugandan government from critical scrutiny regarding its authoritarian practices, particularly as the country approaches a general election,” – Nicodemus Minde.
In Uganda’s case, the government is yet to finalize and determine the modalities as to how this agreement will be actualized. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that further discussions are underway to ensure clarity in the operational aspects of this deal.
In a related case, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, initially deported to El Salvador despite a 2019 court order, has had his removal from the US prohibited for several more weeks. This incident beautifully illustrates the complications and legal abuse at stake when deportation is a process, not a goal, for individuals largely targeted in such agreements.
Although Uganda had previously entered into an identical cooperation agreement with Israel, officials have rebuffed allegations of any such partnership. As the government navigates this new agreement with the United States, it faces an uphill battle in balancing international obligations with domestic needs and political stability.
