Verification and Profiling of Refugees Launched in Oruchinga

The government has launched another round of verification and profiling for asylum seekers and refugees in the country.

The exercise, to be conducted jointly with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees-UNHCR, seeks to ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers are accurately reflected in the system, assist the government to enhance the accuracy of data and ensure that resources reach the intended recipients.

Current statistics show that Uganda is home to over 1.5 million refugees settling in 14 refugee camps across the country. Uganda also and maintains an open-door policy for people fleeing conflict and persecution, through a framework considered to be one of the most progressive in the world.

The periodically done exercise was last done in March 2018, where the authorities captured fingerprints, iris scans and photos of refugees and every biometrically verified refugee received a proof of verification form and new ration card. But since then, many more refugees have come into Uganda, running from volatile situations in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda.

State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and refugees Esther Anyakun says that during this years verification exercise, a new system of e-documentation has been rolled out and new Identification cards and other refugee documents will be replaced with new cards possessing advanced security features.

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She said that the issue of refugees has been integrated into the National Development Plan to ensure that they continue to have human dignity with the host communities. She was launching the verification exercise at the Oruchinga Refugee settlement camp in Isingiro district on Thursday.

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The UNHCR Country Representative Joel Boutre says said that the exercise that was supposed to be undertaken in June last year was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, yet it is extremely important that to confirm the refugee figures and guarantee the much-needed assistance for the vulnerable community.

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The Acting Commissioner for Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister Douglas Asiimwe says refugee verification helps in planning, transparency and accountability.

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Under its frameworks, Uganda provides refugees with plots of land, integrated with local host communities, on which to build new homes and to grow crops. Refugees also share public services, including healthcare and education, with Ugandan nationals, who have consistently welcomed refugees with generosity and hospitality.

Refugees are also given the right to work and start businesses, as well as freedom of movement. This means the refugee population in Uganda is spread throughout various refugee settlements and urban areas throughout the country. However, thousands of them are still concentrated in the camps which include  Bidi-Bidi, Nakivale, Oruchinga, Kyangwali, and Rwamwanja, among others