Who is exactly bringing back stranded Ugandans from Dubai? NUP or the Government?  Could be none

Over the last few days, there has been an arm wrestling of sorts between the government and the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) over stranded Ugandans in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It all started after the NUP principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine announced a freedom concert in Dubai from which proceeds would be used to expatriate Ugandans stranded in UAE.

The concert would however flop after Bobi Wine was grilled at the Airport in Dubai and consequently stopped from holding the same.

Commenting about the debacle, Bobi accused the Ugandan government of “working tooth and nail to ensure the concert does not happen”.

“Unfortunately, our Charity Concert in Dubai has been cancelled! The venue owner has been instructed to cancel. The information available shows Ugandan authorities have been working tooth and nail to ensure it doesn't happen! The first attempt was to deny me entry, and now this!” Bobi lamented.

Bobi and NUP also launched a fundraising campaign to enable the expatriation of Ugandans stranded in Dubai.

Speaking about the campaign, Bobi said they cannot look on when hundreds of Ugandans and other Africans continue to languish in UAE detention centres for lack of money to buy air tickets to travel back to their home countries.

Ugandans start returning

Six (6) days later, the NUP reported that they had received at least 41 Ugandans who had returned from Awir Deportation Jail Dubai. These were hosted at Bobi Wine’s home in Magere, Wakiso District.

Earlier, the NUP also claimed to have received 12 Ugandans. Bobi Wine said that the return was enabled by MPs and NUP members who raised money for air tickets.

Government struggles for relevance

Following Bobi Wine and NUP grabbing the limelight, the government struggled to archive relevance in the face of an embarrassing situation.

The very day, the Minister for Gender, Betty Amongi announced that at least 420 Ugandans stranded abroad will be given free tickets to return. This remained unexplained to date.

The government claims to repatriate 1,500 Ugandans

In the thickness of the heat, the government through the Uganda Mission in UAE led by Ambassador Kibedi Zaake announced that at least 1500 Ugandans have been helped back home through a waiver on visa violations.

Kibedi maintains that most of the Ugandans returning are beneficiaries of a Visa overstay waiver scheme that started in August with collaboration from different countries.

“There's no repatriation that can be done successfully without the involvement of the embassy especially when there are no passports,” Kibedi maintains.

According to Kibedi, he wonders how NUP have been able to repatriate Ugandans who have no passports, and how they have been able to do so without consulting the Ugandan embassy.

“All these Ugandans have had their overstay fines waived by the UAE government and they have been allowed to go back home without any issues,” Kibedi said.

“The embassy of Uganda in Abu Dhabi in coordination with the government back home has so far processed emergency travel documents of 1,220 Ugandans for free. Only 280 of those who have sought the overstay waiver had their original passports with them,” he added.

UAE government efforts

Earlier, a Nigerian Tweeter identified as Carviar Purple hinted that the UEA government had indeed offered a free pass out of the country to illegal residents.

To ensure this, the UAE government offered to pay for flights and forgive debts, while as well offering overstay waivers on visas.

“All you need is a representative from your consulate to come sign y’all off,” Purple tweeted.

Last month, the UAE government offered free pass out of the country to illegal residents.

Your flight paid and your debt forgiven.

All you need is a representative from your consulate to come sign y’all off.

Other govt reps were there. Nonchalant Nigerian govt wasn’t.

— 💕 (@CaviarPurple) October 22, 2022

She however castigated the Nigeria government for being negligent to the situation while “other government representatives appeared”

Following her rants, the government of Nigeria consequently organised the evacuation of 542 citizens, who landed in Abuja on 23^rd October.

According to Kibedi, indeed the UAE government has coordinated with embassies of several African countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leon and others to help these illegal immigrants who were stranded in the UAE to ensure that they go back home to their countries.

“Ugandan nationals were the majority of those Africans with overstay fines who sought for the waiver,” he said.

“We thank the UAE government for extending help to our people by waiving the overstay fines and providing them with air tickets to return back home,” he added.

So, is it NUP or Government?

The NUP insist that they are the ones repatriating Ugandans stranded in Dubai, and that government is trying its best to play a spoiler role by abducting and threatening returnees.

NUP’s Women’s League chairperson Flavia Nabagabe while appearing on NBS TV wondered why the government is detaining the returnees if there is no politics at play.

“Why does the government detain these Ugandan citizens that we are repatriating if it's not politics? The government was prompted by NUP, and we appreciate that they have now jumped on board,” she maintained.

Nabagabe claims that there are 21 detention centres in UAE.

“Hon. Kyagulanyi went to one of these centres and found 600 Africans and 200 of these were Ugandans. Muwada Nkunyingi ( Kyandondo East) visited a number of these detention centres and returned to the secretariat, and informed us about the condition of these people. This is where the idea of the concert came from,” she urged.

She maintained that the party will continue with fundraisers because there are several detention centres with Ugandans and others sleeping on the roads. We may not be able to return all of them, but we are going to do what is in our means.

However, in reply KIbedi insists that there is one detention centre only while the rest are prisons.

“The rest are prisons. Before I left on Sunday, all Ugandans in that centre had returned. 1,500 Ugandans were returned by the government.”

“It is not true that the government was triggered by the NUP call to repatriate Ugandans. This is not the first time we are doing so (repatriating Ugandans),” he added.

Conclusion

While the squabbles between NUP and Government continue on who exactly is bringing back stranded Ugandans, one must think about a number of important things; who took them there in the first place, and how was the situation allowed to reach where it is now? One who attempts to answer the question should know that in the last ten years alone, the number of Ugandans in UAE has shot to 100,000, with at least 10 per cent of those facing enormous challenges.

Story by Jonah Kirabo and Crispus Mugisha