“The request was made yesterday by the U.S. government to H.E. President Yoweri Museveni, and he has given them an OK to bring 2,000 Afghan refugees to Uganda.”
Esther Anyakun Davinia, Uganda’s junior minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees said.
They (Afghan Refugees) will be in Uganda for three months before the US resettles them somewhere else, said the ministry.
“They are going to be here temporarily for three months before the U.S. government resettles them elsewhere.”
Uganda Ministry for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees
The East African nation is known for receiving refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The East African nation currently has over 1.4 million refugees, mostly from South Sudan.
In a Twitter post by East Africa Refugee, an International NGO, approximately 500 Afghan refugees are expected to arrive in Uganda today.
After the capturing of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, by the Taliban, thousands of Afghan citizens are fleeing the war-torn country to seek refuge in neighbouring countries Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Yesterday, the United States sent in US Air Force rescue planes to evacuate it, citizens, to safety.
Uganda is not the only country to accept US requests to host Afghan refugees, Albania and Kosovo are also taking Afghans in temporarily, as per the US request.