Uganda Vows To Deport Sneaking Refugees over Covid-19

By NLP
Following the death of a refugee who died in Hoima district after sneaking into DR Congo and came back into Uganda, the government of Uganda through the ministry of disaster preparedness and refugees says it is soon abandoning the refugee status of some immigrants following the spread of Covid-19 infections and deaths within refugee settlements.
According to, Mr Musa Echweru ,the state minister for disaster, said some refugees have been secrately going back into their countries of origin and coming back to Uganda and import more cases in the country.

He added that Kyangwali camp in Hoima after getting the Coronavirus, “We have sensitized refugees about the Covid-19 guidelines and we are also considering making it criminal offense to sneak into their countries and returning back to Uganda or even evoking their refugee status,”
Uganda opened part of its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo to allow in thousands of people stuck in no-man’s land for more than a month.
At least 3,000 of them fled their homes in May after inter-communal clashes in north-eastern Ituri province.
But they were unable to cross into Uganda to seek safety as the country had closed its borders in March to control the spread of coronavirus.
It has been agreed that the refugees will be quarantined before being settled.
This will happen for 14 days at a new isolation centre, 13km (eight miles) from the border.
The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) says sample testing will be carried out on the group to see if coronavirus is present amongst them.
This will help authorities decide when the refugees can be transferred to camps.
Two border crossings in Uganda’s Zombo district temporarily opened on Wednesday and it is expected all the refugees will be able to cross over in three days.
Uganda hosts more than 1.4 million refugees – most have fled from South Sudan, while about 30% come from DR Congo.