Uganda receives 51 evacuees from Afghanistan at Entebbe Airport

ARRIVAL OF EVACUEES FROM AFGHANISTAN IN UGANDA –  Uganda Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement!

The Government of the Republic of Uganda this morning; 25 August 2021, received Fifty One (51) evacuees from Afghanistan who arrived aboard a privately chartered flight at the Entebbe International Airport, near Entebbe Town, 40 km, south of Kampala, Uganda capital

This follows a request from the United States Government and acceptance by the Government of Uganda to temporarily host at-risk Afghan Nationals and other Nationals who are in transit to the United States of America and other destinations worldwide. – Uganda Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Uganda and the United Stales of America enjoy long standing cordial bilateral relations which are historic in nature and continue to pursue common interests for the mutual benefit of both countries.

The decision to host those in need, is informed by the Government of Uganda’s consistent policy of receiving refugees and persons in distress as well as playing a responsible role in matters of International concern.

Uganda and the United States government have a long history of security and bilateral ties.

Each year, the United States gives Uganda roughly Sh3.5 trillion [$1 billion], primarily for health and security assistance.

In exchange, the Museveni administration acts as a stabilizing force in the troubled Great Lakes region, performing security tasks, most notably combating Al-Shabaab in Somalia and acting as a diplomatic intermediary.

The Afghan evacuees in Uganda who included men, women and children underwent the necessary security screening as well as the mandatory COVID-19 testing and the required quarantine procedures, said the statement

Whereas it had been arranged for some Ugandans to travel on the above flight, due to the challenges of accessing the airport in Kabul, they were unable to make it. Arrangements are being made to bring them in the subsequent flight

Details of subsequent arrivals will be communicated in due course.

“We are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and we’ve secured Imperial Hotels properties in Entebbe to serve as a transit hub for them to come and be examined first,” Esther Anyakun, Uganda’s Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Refugees, reported Zenger News.

The Ugandan government agreed on 17 August to host at least 2,000 refugees fleeing Afghanistan following the collapse of President Ashraf Ghani’s government.

This is not the first time the international community is requesting Uganda to host refugees. In 2018, Uganda said that Israel had asked Kampala to take in 500 Eritrean and Sudanese refugees.

Uganda hosts the highest number of refugees in Africa, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, standing at over 1.4 million at the end of 2020 –  mainly from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Somalia.

Though Uganda noted for its welcoming laws, which provide refugees with a wide range of rights, including access to school, employment, and property ownership, Uganda has had fractious relations with refugee aid agencies, which have worsened lately.

In the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa (SA) in 1989, the Uganda Government provided a base for South African exiles who set up a base to house freedom fighters (Umkonto we Sizwe) of the African National Congress (ANC).

Fourteen of the combatants remain interred at the present-day Oliver Reginald Tambo ANC Leadership school, Kaweweta.

View Uganda Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kampala statement on arrival of Afghan evacuees

Additional reporting on  Zenger News

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