Written by
Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. The government of Uganda is to temporarily take in 2000 refugees from Afghanistan who have fled their country after the Taliban militants took power.
The State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Esther Anyakun told BBC that the deal was agreed following a request from U.S government which was granted by Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
According to Ms Anyakun the refugees will be hosted in Uganda temporarily before they can be relocated by US government after three months.
The Taliban regained power from President Ashraf Ghani, almost 20 years after a U.S invasion had toppled the group
Taking over
The Taliban returned to power last weekend, 20 years after a US-led innervation that ousted them in 2001. They were able to seize control after most foreign troops pulled out.
The lightning advance of the Taliban over 10 days prompted tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, many arriving in the Afghan capital, Kabul, others heading for neighbouring countries.
Preparations
Minister Anyakun revealed that the Afghanistan refugees will be received in shifts and that the first batch of 500 were expected on the 16 August 2021 but officials said the discussion about the arrangements are still ongoing.
But why Uganda?
The U.N High Commission for Refugees in Uganda Representative Joel Boutroue while confining the news said that this was due to the generosity of the Ugandan Government.
Uganda has a long history of welcoming refugees and is currently home to around 1.3 million people. The nation has the largest number of refugees in any country in Africa and the third largest in the world.
But many Ugandans had mixed feelings about this issue of the government accepting to host Afghanistan refugees, as many were supporting Uganda and applauding it for its generosity. Also many were asking questions such as whether Uganda is the largest country in the world to hold each and every refugee from Sudan. Rwanda, Dr Congo, Eritrea.Somalia, Ethiopia, and now Afghanistan.
Hon Muhammad Nsereko Member of Parliament for Kampala Central in his statement through his Facebook account said: “Uganda accepting to take on 2000 refugees from Afghanistan is a good gesture. Helping people that are fleeing persecution is one of the most noble things one can do,” Nsereko said.
But Harold Kaija, Secretary General for opposition party Forum for Democratic Change in an interview with Africa-Press said that the U.S government managed to take their people home why didn’t they take Afghanistan too if indeed they wanted to help.
“One would ask, the U.S only took its 200 collaborators to the U.S. Who are those they want to bring to Uganda?,” Kaija said.
Olimi Wilfred, Activist while speaking to Africa-Press said it is a good gesture at a wrong time, adding that it is the American government that caused these wars in Afghanistan that are making these innocent souls become refugees.
“The American government is going to bring them here, why Uganda not another country or USA itself?,” he asked
But according to the Ugandan government, the U.S administration will meet all expenses incurred during their (refugees) stay. And the new Afghanistan arrivals will be tested for Covid-19 before they are sent to isolation centres, and the U.S will cover these costs, said Ms Anyakun.
