South Sudan, DRC asked to fund Uganda’s refugee response

A pie chart shows Uganda’s refugee population by country of origin (Source / Unhcr)

State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Esther Anyakun Davina has asked the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to contribute towards the support of refugees’ welfare in Uganda.

The minister said Uganda is taking extra burden of hosting the huge numbers of refugees from the two countries and yet the causers to the influx into the country contribute nothing to support their people.

By the end of February, Uganda had a total of 1,595,405 refugees, of whom 964,960 were from South Sudan. The number has since grown, with more than 35,000 new arrivals in March and April from DRC.

During a meeting with the steering group of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) on Wednesday in Kampala, Minister Anyakun said now is the time for the countries whose citizens have been forced to flee to Uganda to start supporting them across the borders.

“South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo must begin to mobilise resources and send it to Uganda, because it is us who are keeping, feeding and hosting these refugees. It is us Uganda doing everything, so these countries must starting mobilising resources and send it to Uganda for refugee response,” Ms Anyakun told the members.

Uganda has had an open door policy for refugees and asylum seekers from other countries at war. But Ms Anyakun said the policy is being exploited by the neighbouring countries who have failed to secure the lives of their citizens.

 “Something must be done and it has to be taken to another level in terms of engagement and in terms of resource mobilisation because we are not going to be strained,” she warned.

The two neighbouring countries have been bedevilled with years of insurgency orchestrated by political differences.

The latest refugee influx from DRC came after the M23 rebels went on offensive against the government forces, displacing thousands of locals, forcing them to flee to Uganda. The minister said while international focus is now on Ukraine, the regional countries must take responsibilities for their own refugees.

“Uganda has fulfilled all the pledges it made, donors have fulfilled all the pledges they made, but the current emergency issue is beyond our capacity. That’s why I am asking the governments from other countries to start mobilising resources and send to Uganda so that we can help them because all donors are now looking at the war in Ukraine,” she said.

Ms Anyakun yesterday said there must be regional efforts to engage the warring factions to come to a roundtable to resolve their differences. She also said the governance issues in the respective countries must also be addressed through dialogue.

Ms Brigitte Eno, the UNHCR deputy representative to Uganda, said the regional approach to conflict resolution in East Africa is a welcome idea and that the UN body will support and facilitate discussion to find a lasting solution to armed conflicts in the region.

She asked Uganda to take lead in championing the regional approach.