More refugees seek safety in Uganda

By Oyet Okwera

As we commemorate World Refugees’ Day (WRD), we need to reflect on our contribution as a nation in terms of ensuring the safety of refugees as they seek asylum due to political interference.

The day is recognised globally to honour the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children, who are forced to flee their homeland under the threat of persecution, conflict and violence.

It is a day to recognise the contributions of refugees in their communities and organisations such as InterAid Uganda (IAU) Limited, which participate in various activities in support of refugees.

The focus of this year’s celebration is embedded under the theme; One family torn apart by war is too many.

According to Scholastic Nasinyama, the executive director, InterAid Uganda, just in one minute, we can also act and reunite a family and protect a child and provide shelter. She urges stakeholders to unite for a common cause of safeguarding refugees, who seek asylum.

A Congolese refugee at Rwamwanja in Kamwenge district. Many refugees arrived at the camp after fleeing war in DRC

Nasinyama says InterAid Uganda mainly helps disadvantaged people, including refugees who flee from different areas to settle in safer places.

“We are involved in projects geared towards the improvement of livelihoods of the disadvantaged people, both in the rural and urban areas,” Nasinyama explains.

Reports from United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that by August 2012, Uganda was host to more than 190,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers.

Uganda has seen an increase in the number of people of concern to UNHCR living in urban areas from 9,000 in 2007 to 48,000 today and figures show that most of these live in Kampala.

“As a lead agency implementing the urban programme in partnership with Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and UNHCR, I thank the Government of Uganda for hosting refugees in the country,” Nasinyama says.

She is also grateful to UNHCR for fulfilling their protection mandate to refugees. Nasinyama also thanks refugees for their strength and resilience during this time when they are in forced displacement in Uganda.

Although Uganda has been empathetic to refugees, urban refugees lack of access to means of livelihood in Kampala. This has in turn impacted on their ability to cope with health, social, economic and emotional problems that consequently affect their local integration as refugees.

Nasinyama says InterAid Uganda in partnership with the Government and different stakeholders have collectively contributed towards access to public services.

The urban refugee programme provides services such as counselling and information dissemination, facilitation of access to preventive and curative health care.

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