Uganda’s U-turn on refugee policy leaves Sudanese asylum seekers stranded

Summary:

• People fleeing war in Sudan feel stuck after Uganda announced change to ‘open door’ policy amid funding crisis

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Four months after civil war broke out in Sudan in April last year, widow Sofia Mohamed was forced to flee her hometown of Kosti with her three young children in tow. The family travelled to Renk, a town just over the border in South Sudan, where they were registered as refugees, before heading to the Ugandan capital of Kampala in September, after her brother-in-law advised it would be safer.

The family hoped to obtain documentation of their refugee status in Uganda. But in January 2024, the Ugandan government announced that Sudanese refugees would no longer be able to register as refugees while living in the capital and other urban towns around the country. All arrivals, including Mohamed and her children, must instead now live in refugee camps to obtain such documents – and stay in the camps thereafter.

The move is a drastic change of policy for Uganda, which has in recent years been praised for its progressive attitude on migration. Refugees previously had the right to work and move freely throughout the country, with access to health and education, under the 2006 Refugee Act and the 2010 Refugee Regulations. They were also given a small plot of land to cultivate, and food and financial support.

Though the Ugandan government has not given any justification for its restrictions, an anonymous senior official in the country’s Office of the High Commissioner reportedly told the Ayin network of Sudanese journalists that they were introduced for security reasons and to reduce pressure on local services.
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Uganda’s previous ‘open door’ policy has led it to host more than 1.6 million refugees – more than anywhere else in Africa – from countries including Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. But its social system is coming under pressure as it struggles to cope with the 260,000 new arrivals since the start of 2022.

More than 37,000 refugees are from Sudan, like Mohamed and her children, with the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force having internally displaced 6.5 million people and led a further 1.7 million to flee to neighbouring countries. This is now taking its toll on Uganda.

“My brother-in-law told me that in Uganda I will have freedom of movement, the right to work, establish a business, own property, and access national services, including primary and secondary education and the national health system, only to find that all these are half-truths,” Mohamed said.

None of these options are practically available anymore. Instead, Mohamed and her family are stuck living in the Kiryandongo camp, some 220 kilometres north of Kampala. The camp opened in 1954 to house Kenyan refugees fleeing the Mau Mau Uprising; by last month, it was home to over 107,000 people, almost all of whom were from South Sudan, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Uganda may have one of the largest refugee populations in the world, but it is also one of the worst funded. In its latest report, published December 2023, the UNHCR said that only 22% of the country’s overall refugee response plan funding requirements of $846m has been covered, representing a shortage of 78%.

The effects of this funding crisis are being felt on the ground. The UN World Food Programme, which supports 1.4 million refugees in Uganda, is being forced to limit its food and financial assistance packages because of its limited resources.

New arrivals to Uganda now receive 100% of their allocated food ration for only the first three months they are in the country. The size of the monthly rations have also been reduced from 34 kilogrammes per person to six kilogrammes in some camps and three in others.

Anybody who has been in Uganda for longer than three months is categorised by the UNHCR as either ‘vulnerable’, ‘less vulnerable’ or ‘not vulnerable’. The vulnerable group receives 60% of their previous food rations, the less vulnerable receive 30%. It is not known how many people are in each category.

Refugees have told openDemocracy that the cash packages provided by the WFP have also been reduced from 41,000 Ugandan Shillings ($10) per person per month before the Covid pandemic to around 15,000 Shillings ($4) today.

Meanwhile, people who are not considered vulnerable have been weaned off financial and food support completely and instead connected to long-term livelihood opportunities, such as vocational training from local NGOs – though spaces for these are dwindling amid the funding shortages.

Meanwhile in South Sudan

If Sudanese refugees are put off entering Uganda, they will have few other countries to turn to. Some 128,000 have entered South Sudan since the beginning of the war, according to the International Organization for Migration – but the conditions there are far worse.

Many are living in South Sudan’s Gorom camp, which was built in 2010 to host 2,500 Ethiopian refugees. Today it is today home to 18,000 people, including 7,000 people from Darfur in the west of Sudan – with a recent UN report describing the deterioration of its conditions as dire.

Severe overcrowding in Gorom means people with chronic health problems have almost no access to the camp’s only medical center and laboratory, and there is only enough funding for aid agencies to offer a single meal per person daily.

“South Sudan’s intentions are good, but our historical role as refugees ourselves has not prepared us for this reversal of roles,” said Akol Dok, a South Sudanese policy analyst at strategic advisory firm Orus Consulting.

“The country is still recovering from its own history of conflict and displacement, which complicates its capacity to provide adequate protection and assistance to refugees,” he added.

Dok explained that South Sudan already faces challenges related to security, infrastructure and governance, which have been exacerbated by the arrival of refugees. This has had tragic consequences, such as the murder of Bakhit Bashir, a 19-year-old refugee, in December last year. Bashir, who was originally from Darfur, had been living in Gorom when he was convinced by another Sudanese refugee to start offering rickshaw rides in Juba, the capital, to earn money. His body was found on the side of a road under a mango tree. The police told his mother that he was likely attacked by one of the city’s notorious gangs, which are known for crimes involving robbery and extortion.

“For refugees to enjoy the freedom to work, trade, and study, the Uganda government invests in their livelihoods through plots for farming to generate income, unlike South Sudan, which is not even safe for locals to farm,” said Towongo Leonard, who heads the Anglican Communion Congregation’s education training for returnees from Sudan.

Dok believes South Sudan’s top priority must be repatriating its own citizens who are refugees abroad. He said South Sudan’s own humanitarian needs are so great that refugees in the country should be given temporary accommodation and assistance before ultimately being facilitated on to a third country.

“If we cannot even evacuate all our citizens and resettle those who came back, how do we then think of handling the refugees?” Dok asked. “Some parts of our country are not safe. Onward facilitation is the best option.”

Meanwhile, Sudanese refugees like Mohamed and her children are left with limited options: either soldier on in Uganda until they receive refugee status elsewhere, return to South Sudan to face possibly more dire conditions, or finally return back home, potentially risking their lives.

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