Under the open door Policy, the government has been accepting refugees from any Part of the world and once an individual is granted a refugee status, he or she is free to move, work and even open a business in line with the 2006 Refugee Act.
Leaders in the Northern Uganda District of Lamwo have welcomed
government’s decision of scraping the open-door refugee policy in the country.
Under the open-door policy, the government has been accepting refugees from any
part of the world and once an individual is granted a refugee status, he or she
is free to move, work and even open a business in line with the 2006 Refugee
Act.
Last week, the Disaster Preparedness, Refugees and Relief Minister Engineer
Hillary Onek announced the end of open-door refugee policy, citing the country
has been infiltrated by wrong elements through the channel of open-door policy.
Onek says asylum seekers will now be processed for refugees' status on a case
by case basis as opposed to the previous mass admissions into the various
settlements.
John Komakech Ogwok, the Lamwo LCV Chairperson in an interview says that that
the open-door policy for refugees had a lot of weaknesses and scrapping it away
is a good move for the country.
Lamwo is among the districts in Northern Uganda hosting currently over 50,000
South Sudanese Refugees in the three settlement centers of Palabek Kal, Palabek
Ogili and Palabek Gem.
// Cue in; “The open door …
Cue out;…from a conflict” //
He says the county and the host communities had not been properly prepared to
absorb the challenges brought by openly accepting refugees from any part of the
country.
According to Ogwok, the host communities where refugees are being hosted, the
nationals have become second class citizens with much benefits and attention
now being given to refugees.
Ogwok says government now have to review its policies in relation to defining
who a refugee is adding that the country needs to look at better ways of
absorbing the challenges the refugees bring in the country.
// Cue in; “Uganda Open Door Refugee…
Cue out;…we have problem” //
He says his district is currently faced with numerous social service challenges
among others limited water supply, poor road networks, limited numbers of
teachers, crowded health facilities and human resources gaps as a result of
high numbers of refugees.
Charles Obong Okwera, the Madi-Opei Sub-county LC3 Chairperson says scrapping
of the open door policy will help to rid of wrong elements who intend to enter
the country in disguise of being refugees.
Madi-Opei Sub-county is one of the entry points used by South Sudan Refugees
accessing Lamwo District.
Okwera says cases of guns being recovered in refugee settlement centres are a
clear indication that the open door policy was attracting wrong elements.
Luo
// Cue in; “Cik eni me acel…
Cue out;… me ngo ineno” //
Okwera says government should now put on stringent measures of accepting
genuine refugees who have been displaced by conflicts but not anyone who wants
to seek for shelter in the country.
Security officials in Lamwo District which borders the volatile South Sudan
have in the past raised alarms over suspected wrong elements crossing in the
three settlements centres in disguise as refugees.
In December last year, the UPDF soldiers arrested Grace Rom Okeny 23 alias
“Wangaras Suspect” in the wilderness of Lagaya village, Palabek Kal Sub County
in Lamwo District in possession of an AK47 assault rifle.
The suspect was reportedly registered as refugee in Uganda and had
a Ugandan Refugee Identity Card issued by Office of the Prime Minister.
Uganda is the third-largest refugee-hosting country in the world
with more than 1.4 million refugees, and the largest percentage being South
Sudanese followed by refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo.
