A top official in Uganda has refuted claims made in a US media report that the country has agreed to receive deportees from the United States. Speaking on Wednesday, the official stated that Uganda does not have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate individuals deported from the US.
Citing internal US government documents, CBS News reported on Tuesday that Washington had reached deportation deals with Uganda and Honduras as part of its drive to step up expulsions of migrants to countries where they do not have citizenship.
“The documents indicate Uganda in East Africa recently agreed to accept deportees from the US who hail from other countries on the continent, as long as they don’t have criminal histories. It’s unclear how many deportees Uganda would ultimately accept under the arrangement with the US government,” the report from CBS News read.
Flat Denial
Denying such an agreement, Okello Oryem, state minister for foreign affairs, told Reuters by text message: “To the best of my knowledge we have not reached such an agreement.”
“We do not have the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such illegal immigrants in Uganda.”
Trump’s Migrant Crackdown
President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who entered the US illegally and his administration has sought to increase removals to third countries, including by sending convicted criminals to South Sudan and Eswatini.
The CBS report said the agreements with Uganda and Honduras were based on a provision of US immigration law that allows people seeking asylum to be rerouted to third countries if the US government determines those nations can fairly hear their claims.
Uganda, a US ally in East Africa, also hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, who mostly come from countries in the region such as Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
Looking For Accommodation
Since the second Trump administration took office, at least a dozen countries have already accepted — or agreed to accept — deportees from other nations. US officials have been actively engaging with foreign governments in this regard.
Internal government documents reveal that the Trump administration has also approached countries such as Ecuador and Spain, requesting them to accept these so-called third-country deportees from the United States.
(With inputs from Reuters)
