The Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Refugees, Hillary Onek Obaloker however says the country isn’t receiving the resources that match the progressive model yet its hosting the highest numbers of refugees.
South Sudan Refugees use their phones to capture a dance performance during the World Refugee Day Celebration in Palabek Refugee Settlement in Lamwo District on June 20 2023. Photo by Julius Ocungi.
Uganda has
threatened to end its progressive policy for refugee management over limited
support from humanitarian aid agencies and countries where the refugees come
from. Uganda’s progressive policy has
been praised as one of the best refugee management models as it entitles a
refugee to work, have freedom of movement, and can access social services, such
as health and education.
The Minister for Relief, Disaster
Preparedness, and Refugees, Hillary Onek Obaloker however says the country isn’t
receiving the resources that match the progressive model yet its hosting the highest
numbers of refugees. Onek says if the government doesn’t
get the needed support, it may be obliged to change its policy and pass out stringent
measures on who can qualify for refugee status in the country.
//Cue in: “Uganda will be…
Cue out:…I called here.”//
He notes that the country’s
Refugee Response Plan for 2022, which combines both humanitarian and development
was funded by only 60 percent, which isn’t enough to sustain the high number of
refugees. For instance, he notes that
refugees in the country only receive about three dollars a month compared to other
regions like Europe where funding to refugees is adequate.
//Cue in: “The Uganda country…
Cue out:…10 American Cents.”//
The Minister made the statements
on Tuesday during the celebration to mark World Refugee Day at Paluda
Secondary School in Palabek Refugee Settlement in Lamwo District, which is home to some 79,000
refugees mostly from South Sudan. The national event was
celebrated under the theme “Hope Away from Home”.
According to Onek, it’s high time
for all the countries under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) from where the refugees fled to take responsibility for their citizens in Uganda.
//Cue in: “We have all…
Cue out:…by one boundary.”//
He explained that the country is
facing huge challenges in social service provision for refugees and declining
tree covers owing to the large numbers of refugees it’s hosting. Last week, ministers responsible
for Refugee Affairs from Member States of IGAD and Partner States of the East
African Community (EAC) signed the Munyonyo Declaration on Durable Solutions
for Refugees in the East and Horn of Africa.
The declaration addresses among
others issues of Government-led whole-of-society approaches; Socioeconomic
inclusion, return and reintegration, resettlement, local integration, partnership,
burden, and responsibility Sharing. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Country Representative for Uganda Mathew
Crentsil acknowledged that the aid agency is facing financial challenges which have
affected its funding for refugee situations.
He however says it would be
catastrophic for the country to change its open-door policy for refugees given
its numerous advantages for those fleeing from violence. According to Crentsil, the aid
agency with support from the government is embarking on innovative approaches to
empower refugees away from the care and maintenance approach but notes that it
takes the intervention of other nontraditional donors.
//Cue in: “All effort is…
Cue out:…of nontraditional
donors.”//
John Bosco Kyaligonza, the Acting
Refugee Desk Officer for Lamwo District says amid the dwindling funding, the
government and aid agency should refocus their interventions from relief
assistance to skill development. He says skilling refugees will help them in
becoming self-sustainable away from depending on handouts from aid agencies and
the government.
//Cue in: “Amidst the dwindling…
Cue out:…work for themselves.”//
For the last three years, UNHCR
has hardly raised 47 percent of its yearly budgets amidst an increasing number
of refugees in the country and across the world. Equally, the World Food Programme
since 2020 reduced food rations to refugees in Uganda by 40 percent, 60
percent, and 70 percent in different settlements over limited findings, a
situation that saw an exodus of refugees to other countries.
Uganda is home to some 1.5
million refugees, the biggest in Africa and the third highest in the world the
majority of whom are from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC).
