The government of Uganda has denied claims that it struck an agreement with the United States to host deportees, including those who are not Ugandan citizens.
International media outlets earlier this week reported that Washington had reached a deal with both Uganda and Honduras to accept migrants removed from the U.S. The reports suggested that Uganda would take in African deportees without criminal records as part of a broader American plan to fast-track removals.
However, Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Oryem Okello, strongly refuted the reports. Speaking to Reuters, he said:
“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.”
Okello stressed that the country is not in a position to accept foreign migrants sent from the U.S., adding that such a program would place additional pressure on Uganda’s already stretched resources.
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump has been pushing new arrangements to deport migrants to third countries, a policy that has faced criticism from rights groups. Some of these deportations have already been directed to countries like South Sudan and Eswatini.
While Rwanda recently confirmed a deal to host up to 250 U.S. deportees with promises of housing and vocational support, Ugandan officials say no such arrangement exists in Kampala.
The reports had already triggered debate in Uganda, where citizens were questioning why the country, which is already hosting a large refugee population, would accept non-citizen deportees. For now, the official position remains clear: Uganda has not agreed to receive deportees from the United States.
