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Arrival of Afghan Refugees in Uganda Raises Security Concerns

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Arrival of Afghan Refugees in Uganda Raises Security Concerns

The primary batch of Afghan evacuees fleeing the Taliban takeover has arrived in Uganda. They’ll obtain momentary refuge earlier than relocating to the US. Some Ugandans, nonetheless, are involved about their nation’s safety.

A gaggle of Afghan refugees together with males, ladies and kids has been transported to Uganda in a chartered flight, mentioned authorities in an announcement. Kampala gave no extra particulars on the identities of the evacuees. It’s the first batch of the two,000 Afghan refugees anticipated to be resettled in Uganda.

“The Authorities of the Republic of Uganda this morning obtained 51 evacuees from Afghanistan who arrived aboard a privately chartered flight on the Entebbe Worldwide Airport,” the international ministry mentioned in an announcement.

Their arrival follows a request from the US authorities to quickly host “at-risk” Afghan nationals and others who’re in transit to the US and different locations worldwide.

The US embassy in Kampala thanked Uganda for its “generosity and hospitality towards these communities.”

“The Government of Uganda and the Ugandan people have an extended custom of welcoming refugees and different communities in want,” the embassy wrote on Twitter.

Right now Uganda obtained a privately chartered flight carrying evacuees from Afghanistan. The Authorities of Uganda and the Ugandan individuals have an extended custom of welcoming refugees and different communities in want.
— A THREAD — pic.twitter.com/Yo7qb1XCn3

— U.S. Mission Uganda (@usmissionuganda) August 25, 2021

 

Fears of imminent ‘terrorist assaults’

Nonetheless, some Ugandans worry that the presence of Afghan refugees may spark assaults from Taliban sympathizers and Islamist militants like Somalia’s al-Shabab. In July 2010, no less than 74 individuals had been killed in twin bombings within the capital Kampala. Al-shabab claimed duty for the assault — the worst in East Africa because the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

Later in 2014, President Yoweri Museveni despatched troops to Somalia to affix the AU peacekeeping mission and Kenyan forces battling al-Shabab insurgents. Since then the East African nation claims to have foiled a number of terrorism plots.

Professor Mwambutsya Ndebesa, a historian and lecturer at Makerere College in Kampala, instructed DW that Uganda may appeal to undesirable consideration from terrorist groups by internet hosting Afghan refugees. “Afghan refugees could flip the eye of worldwide terrorist teams comparable to al-Qaeda, al-Shabab, and ISIS to Uganda and destabilize the nation,” he mentioned.

Other than the fears of a terrorist assault, some Ugandans like Francis Babu, a politician and former legislator within the Ugandan parliament, usually are not happy together with his authorities’s resolution due to what it may imply for the brand new Afghan rulers. He’s apprehensive that the deal hatched between the US and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to host the Afghan refugees may dent relations between Afghanistan and Uganda.

Babu additionally believes that the US is eminently better-suited to soak up the evacuees.

“If you consider America having 50 states, a few of these states are greater than Uganda. Suppose you took the 50 states and divided them into 2,000 individuals; every state would take 40 individuals. I ponder why Uganda ought to settle for to take 2,000 individuals.”

Uganda is house to greater than 1,000,000 refugees from neighboring international locations like South Sudan and DRC | Picture: J. Akerta/Reuters
Uganda is house to greater than 1,000,000 refugees from neighboring international locations like South Sudan and DRC | Picture: J. Akerta/Reuters

 

Refugees ‘usually are not a burden’

However Uganda’s minister for housing, Chris Baryomunsi, says the government will not be constrained by the Afghans’ welfare since the US will deal with their bills for the three months they are going to be in Uganda earlier than they’re relocated to both Canada or the US.

“Proper now, we now have over 1.6 million refugees right here in Uganda. So after we obtained the request, and from an ethical standpoint — we couldn’t refuse as a result of we now have to assist humankind,” Baryomunsi mentioned.

“We will assist them for the brief time that they are going to be right here earlier than they proceed to their vacation spot,” Baryomunsi added.

Most refugees in Uganda stay in massive refugee settlements within the sparsely populated north of the nation, however round 81,000 city refugees stay within the capital Kampala. Support companies have repeatedly mentioned that the worldwide response to assist refugees in Uganda, a country of about 44 million people, has been underfunded.

 

Whitewashing human rights abuses?

Critics and opponents of President Museveni say the refugee association with the US is an try by the 76-year-old chief who not too long ago gained Uganda’s election to cowl up allegations of human rights abuses. Uganda’s opposition chief Bobi Wine accuses Museveni’s administration of kidnappings, torture, and killing his supporters.

Ugandan political scientist Ndebesa additionally underscored that the deal to host Afghan refugees would solely serve to spice up Museveni’s picture overseas.

“Now, the West will have a look at Uganda strategically that may serve its pursuits in East Africa. However, on the other hand, the president of Uganda [Museveni] will get a constructive picture internationally that he’s beneficiant in order that he’ll whitewash his picture about human rights abuses,” Ndebesa mentioned.

Regardless of such considerations, some abnormal Ugandans have welcomed the choice to resettle Afghan refugees in Uganda. Many took to social media platforms to point out solidarity with the Afghan refugees.

Afghanistan we’re in solidarity. pic.twitter.com/JKNr2Xv7bX

— Kakaaya Moses Kakuuto (@kakayamossy2000) August 25, 2021

However for Fred Itogoro, a Kampala resident, Uganda ought to have first repatriated its personal stranded residents earlier than welcoming Afghan refugees.

“Bringing Afghans in Uganda should not be a difficulty. However the Ugandan authorities isn’t even involved about its individuals stranded in Kandahar province. They [the stranded] are going to be seen as traitors,” Itogoro instructed DW. “They might be attacked due to their pores and skin shade and cultural variations.”

The Ugandan authorities says its constant coverage informs the choice to host these in want by receiving refugees and individuals in misery and to play a accountable function in issues of worldwide concern.