Uganda confirms arrival of eight deportees from USA

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Uganda government on Friday (April 3, 2026) confirmed the arrival of eight deportees from the United States of America, the first batch since signing of the deportation deal.

The permanent secretary of the foreign affairs ministry, Vincent Bagiire, in a public statement, indicated that eight individuals, whose cases had been reviewed and approved by a USA immigration judge, arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

“Due to privacy reasons, their details may not be disclosed. Uganda continues to uphold its longstanding commitment to providing sanctuary to persons in need and ensuring that they are treated with dignity,” Bagiire said.

Kampala and Washington signed an Agreement for Cooperation in the Examination of Protection Requests in July 2025. The Agreement conformed to Uganda’s national laws and international obligations.

“As the Ministry clarified after the agreement was signed, it is in respect of third country nationals or individuals who are neither citizens of Uganda nor the USA, but of African origin, who may not be granted asylum in the USA and are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin,” Bagiire said.

He reiterated that this Safe Third Country Agreement takes into account both governments’ international obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement that guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and which applies to all migrants, irrespective of their migration status.

“It is therefore on this basis that the Government of Uganda, having been considered a safe third country, reviewed and accepted a proposal from the Government of the USA to cooperate in the examination of protection requests of individuals who may be removed from the USA,” Bagiire stated.

The development comes just a day after the Uganda Law Society and the East Africa Law Society announced that they had gone to court to challenge the deportation.

Advocates have claimed that this was the latest example of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to force immigrants to “third countries”, where they have no personal connections and may face language barriers.

When the deal between Uganda and the US came to light, Uganda insisted that the agreement was temporary arrangement and that unaccompanied children and people with criminal records would not be allowed under the deal.

The other countries which have signed the similar immigration deportation deals with US include Eswatin, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda, among others.

Uganda has also emerged on the list of a dozens of countries that European Union (EU) nations are scouting as potential partners to host so-called "return hubs" for failed asylum-seekers and other initiatives to curb migration. The other countries are Rwanda and Uzbekistan.

The EU is to allow member states to deport migrants with no right to stay to centres outside the bloc under plans preliminarily approved by governments and the European Parliament, despite criticism from human rights groups.

Uganda, which implements an open-door refugee policy, currently hosts close to two million refugees, mainly from across the region. This, according to analysts, gives confidence to some global actors, such as the US, about the security of immigrants.