Uganda says it has agreed with US to take people who may not qualify for asylum
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KAMPALA - Uganda has entered an agreement with the US to take in nationals from third countries who may not get asylum in the US but are reluctant to return to their countries of origin, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Aug 21.
US President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who entered the US illegally and his administration has sought to increase removals to third countries, including by sending convicted criminals to South Sudan and Eswatini.
“This is a temporary arrangement with conditions including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted,” Mr Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said in a statement.
Mr Waiswa added that Uganda would prefer to receive people from African nationalities under the agreement.
“The two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented,” he said.
On Aug 20, another Ugandan foreign affairs official had denied a US media report that the East African country had agreed to take in people deported from the US, saying it lacked the facilities to accommodate them.
Uganda, a US ally in East Africa, hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, who hail mostly from countries in the region such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. REUTERS
