NATIONAL
Uganda has entered into a bilateral agreement with the United States to receive asylum seekers who are denied entry into America, joining a growing list of countries enlisted in Washington’s global immigration crackdown.
According to documents obtained by CBS News, the deal will see Uganda accept an unspecified number of African and Asian migrants who had sought asylum on the US-Mexico border. Honduras has also signed a similar agreement, agreeing to take in several hundred deportees from Spanish-speaking countries over a two-year period.
The arrangement is part of the Trump administration’s push to establish deportation agreements with nations across Africa, Latin America and Asia. At least a dozen countries have signed up, despite mounting criticism from human rights campaigners who argue that such transfers put vulnerable migrants at risk of harm in unfamiliar territories.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the deal but stressed that it was a temporary and conditional arrangement.
“As part of the bilateral cooperation between Uganda and the United States, an agreement for cooperation in the examination of protection requests was concluded,” said PS Vincent Bagiire Waiswa.
He explained that the agreement targets third-country nationals who are denied asylum in the United States but are unwilling or unable to return to their countries of origin. “This is a temporary arrangement with conditions including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted. Uganda also prefers that individuals from African countries shall be the ones transferred to Uganda,” Waiswa said.
The ministry added that Kampala and Washington are still working out “detailed modalities” of implementation.
The United States has in recent months courted several African nations as part of its broader immigration strategy. Earlier this month, Rwanda announced it would take up to 250 migrants from the US, under a deal allowing Kigali to vet each case individually.
Human rights organisations have criticised such agreements as outsourcing America’s asylum responsibilities to poorer nations already grappling with their own social and economic strains.
For Uganda, which hosts more than 1.5 million refugees, the largest refugee population in Africa, the new deal raises questions about capacity, protection standards, and the long-term fate of those resettled.
