Govt moves refugee registration to NIRA, unveils central portal on migration

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The Government has launched a portal to centrally manage all the information on migration under the internal affairs ministry.

The Government has also moved the function of registering refugees from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) under the internal affairs ministry.

The reform is embedded in the new National Migration Policy of Uganda, launched last week, which lumps the management of migration into an Interministerial Technical Committee on Migration co-ordinated by the ministry.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the launch of the Interministerial Technical Committee on Migration at Mestil Hotel in Kampala city today, April 30, 2026, internal affairs ministry permanent secretary Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu said refugees will still be managed under the OPM, but his ministry takes over the registration function.

“What happens now is the registration of all human beings in the country, nationals and foreigners, including refugees, will be by one body, the National Identification Registration Authority, which is also a member of this committee,” Musanyufu said.

He said one registration point for all human beings in the country will ease management migration, and on the part of refugees, it will ensure that all are known where they are.

As of today, Uganda hosts over two million refugees, and its open-door policy towards refugees has been globally lauded, despite challenges such as dwindling financing.

Musanyufu underscored the importance of the inter-ministerial committee, saying it brings the whole of government to work together to address a very big ‘national concern’ of migration.

“Before the cabinet approved the National Migration Policy, migration was seen primarily as just a matter of the department of internal affairs. But now migration matters are for the whole government. The situation of all foreigners in the country, the management of all the movements of people, it is no longer a sector matter,” Musanyufu said.

He added, “Migration is not a standalone issue. It’s not confined to border control or migration services. It intersects with labour, security, trade, health, the environment, urban migration and climate-induced displacement. These realities necessitate a coordinated whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach,” Musanyufu said.

Migration governance

He clarified that the committee is a Cabinet set-up institutional mechanism designed to ensure that migration governance in Uganda is coherent, integrated and aligned with national development priorities, including the National Development Plan, Vision 2040, and international commitments.

The committee, he added, will bring together all the relevant MDAs to coordinate learning, implementation, monitoring and reporting on migration interventions.

“Through this, Uganda hopes to address “long-standing challenges such as duplication of effort, weak data systems and uncoordinated programming,” Musanyufu said.

Beatrice Lagada, the chairperson of the National Citizenship and Immigration Board (NCIB), said Uganda faces outstanding challenges in managing refugee data.

“We know the number of refugees, yes, we have a figure, but we often come across those who are not part of that figure. Now, when that happens, then you have a problem in the different ministries,” Lagada said.

Lagada explained that inaccurate data affects effective planning for the refugees, resulting in strain on social services, especially in refugee-hosting communities.

“We make a budget. The Ministry of Health knows that I have taken so much medicine to Arua. It is expected to last this long. Then there are refugees in Arua who will go to the referral hospital and consume the medicine. Then tomorrow there’s an outcry over stockouts because our data is not correlated. We must address this,” Lagada said.

She added that the new policy on migration means a great deal for Uganda and implored for teamwork in government to ensure that matters of migration are run the way they are intended to work.

“Young Ugandans every day are there with us in internal affairs, getting passports, flowing out. Then, on the other hand, we have problems, this Ugandan is stuck somewhere in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). You know, it is painful, because for us, we actually see these things live. We send them out. When they are out there, they get into problems. There is no machinery to help bring them back,” Lagada said.

Col Geoffrey Kambere, the acting chief of Citizenship and Migration Control, described the new committee as “a strategic intervention to this reality that requires coordinated action among all stakeholders.”

He emphasised that in today’s globalised economy, “migration is no longer just a simple border security issue. But a critical driver of national development, regional integration and economic resilience.”

Kambere noted that areas such as labour migration, refugee management, border security, and diaspora engagement have been managed in isolation rather than as “a shared national responsibility anchored in a unified policy framework which has resulted in challenges.

 “Let us ensure that our national security strategies are perfectly aligned with our labour market needs and foreign objectives. We are here to come together and break migration silos,” he said.

Kambere added: “We need to move towards evidence-based migration management. Decisions at this level must be backed by real-time data to inform national planning and crisis response. Whether it’s protecting our citizens working abroad or streamlining the entry of investors and skilled professionals, our focus must be to minimise the migration burden for Uganda.”