The Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Sam Engola, has pledged to engage the Eritrean government to establish the factors driving the increasing number of Eritrean asylum seekers arriving in Uganda.
Engola made the remarks during a familiarisation meeting with staff of the Department of Refugees under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Kampala, part of his early engagements since assuming the docket.
“The Minister for Disaster preparedness and Refugees Sam Engola has promised to engage the Eritrean government to ascertain what is causing the Increasing number of refugees from Eritrea to Uganda,” he said during the meeting.
The Minister expressed concern over the rising numbers, noting what he described as a mismatch between reports of stability in Eritrea and the continued inflow of refugees into Uganda.
“Engola is concerned that the number of refugees from Eritrea has increased to over seventy thousand and yet Eritrea seems to be stable currently,” he said.
He said establishing the root causes of the influx would help government improve planning for reception, settlement and resource allocation for refugees and host communities.
Engola, who recently took over the ministry, said his priority is to better understand the operations of the refugee management system and strengthen coordination within the Office of the Prime Minister.
Uganda currently hosts one of Africa’s largest refugee populations, with arrivals from countries including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Eritrea.
The country maintains an open-door refugee policy, which has been widely praised internationally but has also placed pressure on social services and humanitarian funding.
Officials have previously called for increased international support to sustain assistance programmes for both refugees and host communities.
The meeting at OPM formed part of Engola’s ongoing orientation into the ministry as government reviews emerging trends in refugee inflows and long-term management strategies.
