Uganda has agreed to a deal with the United States to accept deported migrants, provided they have no criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors, officials said Thursday.
The Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that both countries are still working out the detailed modalities for implementing the agreement. Uganda has also expressed a preference for deportees to be of African nationalities, News.Az reports, citing AP News.
It remains unclear whether the agreement has been formally signed, but the ministry described it as “concluded.”
International Relations Minister Henry Okello Oryem emphasized Uganda’s long-standing reputation for a generous refugee policy while noting the country has limits. “We are talking about cartels: people who are unwanted in their own countries. How can we integrate them into local communities in Uganda?” he said.
Oryem added that discussions are ongoing on “visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues,” stressing that Uganda would not accept illegal immigrants from the U.S., saying that doing so would be unfair to Ugandans.
In July, the United States deported five men with criminal backgrounds to Eswatini and eight more to South Sudan.
