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According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Uganda has been praised to be the best country for those seeking asylum because of its welcoming policies.
In a recent report by BBC, there are over half a million refugees in Uganda. Many of them are settled in rural communities. International Agencies offer financial help to the government and they believe the Uganda-model shows progressive policies can work.
1. One thing that makes Uganda unique is that refugees are taken in immediately and helped without a lot of questions or suspicions.
2. At the heart of this generosity may be that many people in power know what it is like to be forced to flee.
3. The decades following independence in 1962 saw several internal conflicts, which created thousands of refugees.
4. Even President Yoweri Museveni and some of his cabinet colleagues have been exiles themselves. And in the last 20 years nearly all the countries that border Uganda - the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya and South Sudan - have had conflicts which have sent people running to Uganda.
5. As cultures and languages straddle national borders, Ugandans often share family or ethnic ties with some of the people who have come here, making integration easier.
6. Refugees in Uganda are given food, houses, free education for their children. Refugees can even sleep in the open with no disturbance from anyone.
7. Refugees in Uganda have freedom. They are allowed to make contribution to the local economy.
8. Another reason why Uganda welcomes Refugees is because many Ugandans have had to flee conflicts including President and top Ministers were once exiles themselves.
9. Ugandans and Refugees are able to trade with each other – one way the government has encouraged cohesion between the two groups.
On the other hand, some Ugandans are not happy with the government. Ugandan farmers and land owners complain that they are losing out to refugees but government insists they are squatting in areas en masse for those seeking asylum.
But as Ugandan population grows, for how long will this generosity continue?
