Uganda has agreed to take deported migrants from the US as long as they have no criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors. The deal, which is still in the works, aims to uphold the “policy of keeping Americans safe” said by the US embassy in Uganda.
The agreement was announced after a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The call focused on migration, trade, and commercial ties.
However, human rights activists have criticized the deal as potentially violating international law. Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, had earlier denied any agreement on deportees but said his country was discussing visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues.
Opposition lawmaker Muwada Nkunyingi suggested that such a deal would give the Ugandan government legitimacy ahead of elections. Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio likened the proposed deal to human trafficking, saying it would leave the status of deportees unclear.
The US has previously deported migrants with criminal records to countries like Eswatini and South Sudan. Uganda is reportedly seeking a model of regional stability in exchange for accepting these migrants.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/uganda-us-deportation-migrants-immigration-crackdown-trump-15edfb4d80677c51c56beb8ab5130cd4