Uganda agrees to take in U.S. rejects

By Paul Dada

The Ugandan government says it has agreed to temporarily host third-country nationals who have been denied asylum in the U.S.

This concerns those unwilling or unable to return to their home countries.

Vincent Bagiire, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs,  disclosed this in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. he described the deal as a “temporary arrangement” aimed at providing a humanitarian solution for asylum seekers in limbo.

“The agreement is in respect of third-country nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin,” he said

Details of the U.S.-Uganda agreement however, remain limited, including the number of migrants involved and specific legal terms.

As of Thursday, neither the U.S. State Department nor Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published the full text of the agreement or clarified how long the migrants will remain in Uganda.  There is also no information on what legal status they will hold, or whether they will be eligible for resettlement to a third country.