Departing passengers line up for check-in at Entebbe International Airport. Photo | File
Nearly eight in 10 Ugandans, representing 79 percent agree that East Africans should be able to move freely across their international borders to trade or work.
The findings in a new Afrobarometer report also says only one in five Ugandans, representing 20 percent, think the government should limit people’s cross-border movement.
“Findings reveal that while citizens favour the free movement of people to work and trade in East Africa, most want fewer migrants, or even none whatsoever, to come into their own country. This view prevails even though majorities of respondents perceive migrant workers as contributing positive economic value and profess no reservations about living among foreign workers or refugees,” the report said.
The 2024 Afrobarometer report findings say while Ugandans are open to cross-border movements, about 65 percent of the respondents say in practice, crossing international borders is “difficult” or “very difficult.”
The report says even among senior citizens of 56 years or older and respondents with no formal education, the least pessimistic groups, nearly three-fifths (57 percent and 59 percent, respectively) say cross-border travel is hard.
“Almost six in 10 citizens (58 percent) see migrants’ economic impacts on Uganda as generally positive, and majorities say they wouldn’t mind living next door to foreign workers or immigrants (73 percent) or refugees (64 percent),” the report says.
Three of every four Ugandans, according to the report, want the government to reduce the number of foreign job seekers it allows to enter the country, with 58 percent saying it should control while 18 percent say it should eliminate such immigration altogether. A similar majority, with 55 percent favouring reducing while 18 percent call for eliminating entry by refugees.
The deal to export domestic workers from Uganda to Saudi Arabia has been renewed more than three months after a bilateral labour agreement was suspended.
More than four in 10 respondents (42 percent), the report says, have considered leaving Uganda. This figure is highest among the most educated (59 percent of those with post-secondary education and the youth of 51 percent of 18- to 35-year-olds.
Another key finding is that half of the people who are currently unemployed have thought about leaving Uganda, while nearly as many part-time workers (49 percent) and full-time workers (45 percent) have considered emigration, according to the report.
The most common reasons cited for potential emigration are economic, led by finding work opportunities, with 56 percent of those who have considered emigrating saying it is for economic reasons.
“The most popular destination among potential emigrants is North America (26 percent). Almost as many (23 percent) would move to another country on the African continent. The Middle East (18 percent) and Europe (15 percent) are next on the list of preferred destinations,” the report says.
Uganda is currently a major destination for migrants, hosting an estimated 1.7 million refugees and asylum seekers, with its migration policies having been described as “progressive” thanks to efforts to integrate migrants.
Data from the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, 2022, indicates that remittances from labour migrants total nearly $1 billion annually, but the report says many who leave for better opportunities, particularly those working in the Middle East, are subject to human trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitative labour practices.
Labour export, according to government data, has been growing since 2010. PHOTO/FILE
One study by Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, 2022, found that 89 perent of Ugandans working in the Middle East “reported experiences consistent with human trafficking.”
The report, however, says the government is developing programmes that aim to improve migration governance, strengthen institutions to address the smuggling of migrants and protect victims of trafficking.
“Practical steps taken so far include a task force dedicated to preventing human trafficking and a guide to travelling and working in the Middle East, along with a training programme,” the report said.
The report also says cross-border movement is a central aspect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its complement, the Free Movement of Persons Protocol.
The AfCFTA, signed by 54 African Union (AU) members, seeks to create a “single continental market” and boost trade between African countries by eliminating trade barriers.
It says while the AfCFTA focuses on freer movement of goods and services, the free movement protocol, adopted by AU heads of state in 2018, promotes labour mobility across the continent; only four countries had ratified the protocol.
The AfCFTA entered into force in 2019, and trade commenced under the banner of the agreement on January 1, 2021. However, the effects of this agreement don’t seem to be felt very widely as yet. Three years after trading began, a vast majority (80 percent) of Ugandans surveyed have not heard of the AfCFTA.
The report says most Ugandans appear to support freedom of movement, at least for people within the region.
A majority representing 58 percent of citizens, according to the findings believe that migrant workers are good for their nation’s economy, compared to 36 percent who say it is “fairly bad” or “very bad” for the economy “if people from other countries come here to live and work for several years.”
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Ugandans with post-secondary education, the report shows, see the value in foreigners. Positive assessments of migrants’ economic contributions are also high among part-time workers and the unemployed (both 61 percent) and men (60 percent).
Ugandans from different labour export companies boarding Saudia Airlines on Wednesday to go work in Saudi Arabia. PHOTO/EVE MUGANGA
Ugandans also express largely tolerant attitudes toward living next door to migrants. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) say they wouldn’t mind having foreign workers or immigrants as neighbours, including 38 percent who would “somewhat” or “strongly” like the idea.
Men are somewhat more likely than women to express tolerant attitudes toward both foreign workers (75 percent vs. 71 percent) and refugees (67 percent vs. 62 percent).
Immigrants and foreign workers find more tolerant attitudes among citizens with full-time jobs (78 percent) than among those without employment (70 percent).
The report says refugees found rural residents more welcoming than their urban counterparts, with 67 percent saying rural population were more receptive compared to 59 percent urban population.
When it comes to leaving their country, more than four in 10 Ugandans (42 percent) say they have contemplated the possibility, including 24 percent who have considered it “a lot,” 9 percent “somewhat,” and 9 percent “a little bit.”
Migration
Uganda is currently a major destination for migrants, hosting an estimated 1.7 million refugees and asylum seekers, with its migration policies having been described as “progressive” thanks to efforts to integrate migrants.
Data from the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, 2022, indicates that remittances from labour migrants total nearly $1 billion annually, but the report says many who leave for better opportunities, particularly those working in the Middle East, are subject to human trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitative labour practices.
