Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan nationals arrested

 

A total of 10 men and nine women including children entered Uganda via Lokiriama border post from Kakuma refugee camp.

POLICE|REFUGEES|CRIME 

MOROTO - At least 19 people have been arrested for illegal entry into Uganda. 

The group, which reportedly crossed into the Ugandan territory through Rupa Sub County in Moroto district was arrested on Friday (December 18, 2020) after a tip of by concerned residents at the Uganda-Kenya border. 

A total of 10 men and nine women including children entered Uganda via Lokiriama border post from Kakuma refugee camp where they have lived to close to a decade. 

Ajok Nyamiya, a mother of four from South Sudan who has been in the camp since 2012 said she was travelling to Muyenga in Kampala to spend Christmas together with her sister. 

"We have not met for some good years but we have been in touch via phone," she said. 

Asked whether she had had a corona virus test, Nyamiya said they have undergone several tests but they had not offered them certificates to establish their status. 

She appealed to the Uganda government to allow her travel to her destination saying she has to go back to the camp in mid-January. 

Another Achichong Chol, a student in one of the schools in Nakuru town said she had offered to travel to South Sudan for Christmas. 

She, however, said she ran out of luck when she was netted by the Uganda police. 

Chol confessed having used wrong methods to travel to see her relatives saying this was not the first time. 

She appealed to the Uganda government to either return them to Kakuma or set them free to travel to South Sudan. 

"We sleep in the cold at the Moroto police station, my brothers and sisters have already fallen sick from malaria," Chol noted. 

When the Mt. Moroto regional police commander-RPC Francis Chemusto was contacted, he declined to comment on the matter saying he was in a meeting in undisclosed place. 

However, the district police commander Jude Nasucha confirmed the detention of the team who are mainly refugees from Kakuma, one of Kenya's largest refugee camp located in Turkana County. 

‘You call the RPC for more details since I am out of the station," he said before hanging up the call. 

According to police, the majority of those arrested are South Sudanese nationals, a few are Burundians and Rwandese. Those who claimed to be Ugandans have no national identity cards. 

The refugees were netted aboard an Isuzu truck Reg. UBG 337Y travelling from Lodwar via Moroto to Mbale.' 

A reliable source at the Moroto bus terminal, who spoke to the New Vision on condition of anonymity said huge numbers of refugees had travelled to Uganda in the past few weeks to unknown destinations. 

"These people have been coming as individuals, not as a group," he said adding that telling the police could require being reprimanded.

One Lokoel added that they were seen as usual passengers moving to various parts of the country, an issue that has now induced truck drivers to always travel to Lodwar. 

"These people pay up to UShs180, 000 from Lodwar to Moroto a distance of 150 kilometers," he noted adding that the same applies to Moroto to Kampala. 

Lokoel, further said if its COVID-19 spread, then the refugees have not helped poor Uganda since infections will even soar in Moroto and various places where they tend to go as their destinations. 

A similar operation in July 2016 netted some three South Sudan nationals in Moroto district.

They had walked over 100 kilometers from Lodwar town in Turkana to access transport to various places in Uganda. 

The suspects were arrested on June 29 along Moroto-Kenya having trekked over 100 kilometers from Lodwar town in Turkana. 

They were reportedly meant to travel to Kampala on motives not yet established by detectives in Moroto. 

Meanwhile, the COVID19 taskforce appealed to the police to ensure the refugees are repatriated to Kenya to restrict infections amongst Ugandans.