By John Obi
Uganda has reached an agreement with the United States to accept deported migrants, provided they have no criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors, officials confirmed on Thursday.
Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the “two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented.” The ministry also noted a preference that those deported should be of African nationality.
Although it was unclear whether the pact had been formally signed, the ministry stressed that the agreement had been “concluded.”
International Relations Minister Henry Okello Oryem, speaking to The Associated Press, acknowledged Uganda’s reputation for its generous refugee policies but drew a line on the US request.
“We are talking about cartels: people who are unwanted in their own countries. How can we integrate them into local communities in Uganda?” he asked.
Oryem added that the government was currently engaged in talks with Washington on “visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues, not accepting illegal aliens from the US That would be unfair to Ugandans.”
The development comes weeks after the United States deported five men with criminal records to Eswatini and sent another eight to South Sudan in July.
