More than 1.5 million refugees live in Uganda. PHOTOS/REUTERS
As the rains beat a gentle rhythm last Tuesday, a coterie of senior government officials gathered at one of the hotels in the city business district to urgently chart a way forward on the growing refugee population in the country amid diminishing financial resources.
The closed door meeting was a testament of the huge cracks enveloping Uganda’ benevolent refugee policy, a card routinely flashed by the government on the international arena. It is also a chink in the armour in the byzantine Kampala regime-West (US/European Union) relations.
The government’s inter-ministerial committee is upset that the international community, particularly Western donor countries, have condensed funding to refugee response while Uganda has continued to flung open its borders for all and sundry escaping all forms of persecution.
One senior government official remarked that they are helping to deal with a global challenge, which is a “United Nations affair with nothing to do with Uganda.”
Funding for the refugee response, Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) officials revealed, decreased from $497m (Shs1.8 trillion) in 2018 to $143m (Shs528b) in 2024. This elicited comments like “it is disastrous” and “unfair” from government officials attending.
“The deficit is being shouldered by Uganda, and given that scenario, in June we went around to European countries trying to mobilise funding to lift up the red line, but we were not quite successful because they were talking about human rights abuse that we are intolerant of the homosexuals,” one minister remarked.
Another protested: “Kenya currently hosting less than 500,000 refugees, is getting more money for refugee operations than Uganda.”
The meeting also expressed displeasure with the procedures instituted by the World Bank, a co-financier of the refugee response, on the management of funds by the Finance ministry, which officials said is creating unnecessary bureaucracies and the technocrats made to feel like “beggars” for finances to implement related projects.
The trend of Ministry of Finance officials “soliciting kickbacks on projects was also cited as a major drawback.
For long spells, Uganda has won global acclaim for its progressive refugee policy that welcomes everyone seeking haven from conflicts and natural disasters with open hands. This includes an open cheque for rights and freedoms to roam, live, work, and own land including in urban areas reinforced under the 2006 Refugee Act.
Today, the country hosts the largest number of refugees on the continent and stands in fifth place globally. On a daily basis the country receives between 20,000 and 50,000 refugees through Nyakabande in Kisoro and Matanda in Kanungu at the Uganda – DR Congo border.
According to UNHCR and the OPM, refugee population currently stands at 1.7 million but expected to hit 2 million by December. 57 percent are from South Sudan; 32 percent from DR Congo; 3 percent from Somalia; and 3 percent from Eritrea, Rwanda and Sudan.
According to insiders the problem of the dwindling financial resources, currently compounded by the global economy in a tail spin and the rise of right-wing politics, was exacerbated with each government agency attempting to individually negotiate for resources , which worsened graft.
Over the years, the government’s human rights record and institutionalised corruption became disablers overall. In June 2017, the government convened the refugee summit to raise $2b (Shs7.3 tillion) but brought in pledges of $358.6m (Shs1.3 trillion).
“The open door policy is a good policy that is being admired and celebrated all over the world as a policy that has been very effective. Of course like any other policy, it has to be funded. Uganda opening her door to refugees is good but the sustainability of the refugees who has to bear it?” State minister for Refugees and Disaster Preparedness Lillian Aber told this publication.
Home far from home
The definition of refugee in international law and conventions is clearly defined but increasingly getting muddled with economic migrants triggering extreme nationalism and jingoism in both developed and poor countries. In many countries, except Uganda, immigration remains a combative issue.
In most countries the parameters are defined for nationals, residents, refugees and asylum seekers, illegal migrants, but in Uganda the lines appear blurred.
Generally, 92 percent of the refugees live in the 30 settlements spread across the country while 8 percent, or 136, 887 live in Kampala integrating and living with the local population. Recent years have seen a bulge in the number of urban refugee settlements as policies allow them as long as they can support themselves.
The Refugee Act, 2006 and 2010 regulations offer refugees open cheque; the right to work, access social services, and move freely around the country. Urban refugees, in this case in parts of Kampala, forfeit access to regular humanitarian services offered in camps and have to fend for themselves.
A most evident trend has been the swelling numbers of nationals from the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. From January to September 2023, Uganda received 33,245 urban arrivals from Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
City suburbs including but not limited to Kisenyi, Kansanga, Kabalagala, Nsambya, Lubaga, Muyenga, are registering compact settlements of refugees and asylum seekers.
Tuluu Abdo has been living in Kampala in four years. He and his two brothers fled Ethiopia settling in Nakulabye and Kabalagala respectively.
“Uganda is very fine, everything is good for business, even moving at night and the security is good. If you go to other places you can’t do these,” he said.
Ms Saba Tesfazghi Haile recounts similarly since settling in Kasanga after fleeing fighting in Khartoum where she had settled for nearly 20 years. She first fled her home land, Eritrea due to restrictive religious policies that prohibit Pentecostal churches. She had built a life for her and her 18 year-old daughter when it all came crumbling down following the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
The conflict in Sudan has resulted in 12,900 new arrivals since January 2023. Of these, 86 percent are in Kampala and 14 percent in the settlements.
“We left my country because I am a Pentecostal and it is not allowed. You’re either in prison or leave the country. You must be orthodox, Catholic or Muslim,” Ms Tesfazghi said. Here, she has found a community of believers where she can freely worship. Her daughter is adjusting to the life here, having resumed school in one of the schools around the area.
These are representative voices of a large number, but sources we spoke to also revealed a good number of these asylum seekers with deep pockets who have settled in the country due to its permissive policies that allow them to do anything except own land. These have altered the status quo; propelling prices of real estate and basic commodities in some areas, as well as re-imagining towns to mirror their cultural and social ways of life.
In Kiwafu B, Zone, Kansanga, Mr Yiga Gonzaga, the chairperson said the area is now dominated by Eritrean and Ethiopian nationals, who make up 80 percent of the residents.
“We have for long lived with many asylum seekers from countries like DRC and South Sudan, but at present majority are from Ethiopia and Eritrea, who now make up the largest population in the area,” Mr Gonzaga said.
He added: “Once they settle here, they invite their friends. Many of them come to me to get invitation letters. They came to the leadership, and we register them all. After a short while, they come asking for invitation letters for their people.”
Mr Gonzaga also revealed that some of the asylum seekers use Uganda as a transit point to move especially to North America and Europe. “They invite their people, get married here after which they move.”
He added: “We have to be accommodative because even our fellow Ugandans are in other countries seeking to make ends meet. Anyone can be a refugee at any moment and that is why we must be kind and accommodating.”
Better than them!
It is a similar case in Mponye Zone, Lukuli, Makindye, as Mr Constantine Ssendawula, the LC1 elaborates: “Majority here are Eritrean nationals whose number has increased in the last one and half years.”
Both leaders, and a section of locals applaud the development that has come to their areas and describe the foreign nationals as hard working with exceptional business acumen traits. The areas are now lined with thriving businesses, storied buildings, and high end hangouts, all owned and run by the asylum seekers.
Just below Mr Ssendawula’s office sits the magnificent Eritrean Orthodox Church commissioned in 2022, a building that dominates the Nsambya skyline.
In Kisenyi, the once no go zone slum is now beaming with malls, and thriving small businesses. The area is mostly dominated by Somali asylum seekers and refugees.
The acting chairperson of the Somali Community Association in Uganda, Mr Khalif Muhamad, said approximately 64,400 somali nationals live in areas around Kampala, with over 6,000 students (not refugees) in the Kansanga and Kabalagala area where they attend different universities.
“We can do everything Ugandans do except we can’t buy land but we can get leases of 99 or 49 years, and as you can see we are building shops, malls, and the town has come this side,” he said and added: “We do all businesses, and they grow. Yes people come here and we invite them to come and invest and that is an opportunity for us and the country. They pay taxes, we bring revenue, we build shops, malls, residential areas, and we employ many local people.”
The development has been welcomed by locals, but not without concerns that point to delicate co-existence. In some urban areas in Kampala, the settlement of the refugees has meant outward migration of locals.
“They come with more money than the ordinary Ugandan. Houses that we used to rent out for Shs150,000 are now at Shs400,000. Many landlords have invested to upgrade their houses so they can be occupied by the nationals who want well-furnished areas. This has pushed many Ugandans from the area. And of course this has raised concern among Ugandans, but if you were a landlord with two options of Shs200,000 and Shs400,000, which would you choose? Not many Ugandans can afford the rent here,” Mr Gonzaga said.
Real estate prices have gone through the roof, case in point, one individual who cost his 45*50 decimal plot of land at Shs120m declined to sell hoping to increase the price, after receiving four buyers offering cash in just a couple days.
There are also growing concerns of some refugees engaging in lowly economic activities including mounting stalls of small food and household items, like tomatoes.
Mr Hassan Sultan Nsubuga, a resident of Lukuli, runs a general merchandise shop and finds no trouble settling with the urban refugees, except the concern that they do not buy from businesses of the locals. “I love coffee, they call it buna. I love their food, njera, and I go to the restaurants to support them but they never come to ours.”
The locals want the government to set regulations establishing parameters between foreigners and nationals, who are increasingly feeling taken advantage of.
Under the Refugees Act and the 2010 regulations, Uganda’ s asylum policies uphold key rights, including access to asylum, freedom of movement and expression and the right to work. The legislation conforms to international refugee law. However, only in Uganda do refugees and asylum seekers have such legroom.
Monitor attempted a mini survey, sounding out refugees of different nationalities living around Kampala, but many did not hold any identification documents. And with the country’s porous borders, coupled with the graft at immigration, likely, it is entry and exit at will.
The local leaders we talked to have undertaken the initiative of registering those residing in their areas even though this is primarily the responsibility of OPM, but acknowledged that several remain undocumented.
“There are some without any legal documents, this is an appeal to immigration to up border surveillance, because once they come here, they are already within our borders,” Mr Gonzaga said.
Efforts to speak to the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control, the government body mandated with border management, and removal of illegal immigrants were futile by press time as the spokesperson, Mr Simon Mundeyi, stood us up for an interview for four weeks.
The Somali community chairperson, Mr khalif said: “25 percent [of Somali asylum seekers] come through Entebbe. 75 percent of these come through Kenya via Busia and Malaba to enter Uganda. Most enter illegally, and they may come here to us for guidance, and they go to register with the OPM as asylum seekers where they get IDs and eligibility…Right now there is a chain of people coming this side from Somalia because Uganda is hospitable with good governance.”
In March 2023, the government suspended registration for new arrivals in response to a sudden influx of Somali asylum-seekers suspected to be Kenyan nationals based on documentation presented at the border. This has left many without documents and hence unable to live freely or access much needed services like processing work permits, health services, renting houses among others. This has exacerbated the discriminatory treatment they say they face.
Mr Khalif said they are now considering petitioning Parliament to be considered citizens of Uganda “as long we are East Africa and in IGAD… some people have stayed here for 40 years but they don’t have documents and cannot register as citizens.”
Who benefits/loses?
Ms Aber, however, defended that Uganda’s borders shall remain open amid a catalogue of challenges including financing.
“”If Uganda closes her doors what will happen? They will go manoeuvring through the Indian Ocean and the pressure will pour into the outside world,” she added.
She added: “We always try to handle conflicts with the host communities when they come up. We have urban refugees that are doing all kinds of business, but that is the kind of policy we have, we have no problem with it. This is being Pan Africanist, this is being humanitarian. All we want is to be able to implement projects that address the livelihoods of these refugees. The health care system should be supported, so we need to engage more local NGOs and that is why we talk about localisation.”
Similarly, the OPM spokesperson, Mr Charles Odongtho reinforced that the Refuge Act of provides for free movement of refugees, nondiscrimination on grounds of race, sex or gender, and allows them to move freely across the country just like Ugandans.
“Every refugee is entitled to a free and fair treatment, the same kind of freedoms every Ugandan has. You cannot stop a refugee from doing commerce, from trade just like a Ugandan. They are allowed to seek jobs, those who are qualified,” he said.
Mr Odongtho added: “We have had those complaints that refugees are engaging in selling tomatoes, that they run kiosks that they have made costs of rent go up, but you know Uganda runs a free economic policy based on demand and supply. The question we should be asking is has a refugee committed an offence, if they have, report them to the authorities, and let them be prosecuted. If Ugandans feel that this law provides favours other people in their country let them appeal to Parliament to amend it.”
This publication understands that at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva recently, Uganda made commitments to increase resilience and self-reliance by creating about 300,00 viable economic opportunities for refugees and host communities by 2027, and give refugees a chance to contribute to the economy as well as offer opportunities for refugees to access conventional electronic travel documents and birth certificates by 2027.
The government now wants the little funds that are coming in for refugees are channelled to local responders- including the district level- not to the international NGOs, and is now keenly tracking every penny that has been promised by the donors.
Mr Odongtho said they are also in favour of voluntary repatriation. However, this is unusual as increasingly many refugees prefer to stay.
“Ordinarily when the situation forces you to go into exile is handled, we expect you to go back, but we have been told in the meeting of increasing cases for example of Burundian refugees where they are more comfortable, and they don’t want to go back. Isn’t that praise to Uganda. Perhaps we need to do research and find out what is making them love our country more. It speaks volumes to what we don’t appreciate in this country, the peace we have we cannot take for granted," he said.
South Sudanese refugees displaced by fighting, receive food rations in Imvepi Settlement in Arua District, northern Uganda, on April 4, 2017
Bargaining chip
Mr Odongtho, however, rejected the claim that Uganda’s refugee policy is a political bargaining chip with the Western donors.
“Do we move around the world telling South Sudanese, or Congolese that run to Uganda, I don’t think so. I think they just enjoy a certain peace with us. There is no difference between us. When they run here, must we chase them? You cannot. We are all Africans,” he said.
To foster co-existence between local communities and refugees in settlement camps, the OPM adopted the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) supported by the World Bank which involves rehabilitation and construction of health centres and schools, among other amenities.
Notwithstanding and against backdrop of the jaw-dropping poverty levels and near to non-existent basic services in the refugee hosting districts of Moyo, Lamwo, Adjumani, Yumbe and Maracha, among others, sentiments are rife that aliens are well taken care of than the nationals.
Attempts to speak to UNHCR country office over a period of three weeks were futile, but the global body highly emphasises co-existence as paramount, for host communities not to feel sidelined.
Mr Odongtho urged Ugandans to be accommodative arguing: “There are refugees who are doing badly, and we need to look at that. We tend to look at a few. Out of the 9 percent, and maybe 1 per cent of those look like they are doing better, but these people are suffering. Psychologically it is terrible suffering on their part,”
During May 17 press briefing in Geneva, the UNHCR Representative in Uganda, Mr Matthew Crentsil, called for interventions to preserve Uganda’s capacity to support refugees amid declining funding and growing numbers.
Sadly, government seems preoccupied with capturing attention of the rest of the world with its open-door policy for political capital. While the treatment of refugees deserves praise, the million-dollar question that lingers is, what is in for Ugandans?
Refugee policy
Multiple government sources described the policy tailored at the highest level to fit into the prism of Pan Africanism agenda.
“Only in Uganda do you have such happening. Anyone who has lived in another country, even briefly, will tell how parameters are defined.
So here you have foreigners going about anything freely,” one diplomatic source told this publication, adding: “Of course government knows how to make itself relevant to the international community, so everything else doesn’t matter but what is the cost to the national fabric?”
Yet still, there concerns about the slow integration and a general lack of opportunities for the refugees.
A 2017 report titled “Upholding the rights of urban refugees in Uganda” by Makerere University and Urban Action Lab detailed that “evidence on refugee livelihoods in Kampala suggests that the rights to work and move freely, and without fear, are often unmet in urban areas.”
“In the absence of financial assistance, urban refugees often struggle to find gainful employment and report frequent cases of discrimination by both the Ugandan state and the public,” the report reads in part. However, the reality on ground suggests otherwise.
