Uganda has confirmed signing an agreement with the United States that will allow certain third-country nationals denied asylum in the US to be considered for temporary relocation to Uganda.
In a statement, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, confirmed that “as part of the bilateral cooperation between Uganda and the United States, an agreement for cooperation in the examination of protection requests was concluded.”
He explained that the arrangement covers “third country nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin.”
Bagiire emphasized that the relocation will be temporary and subject to strict conditions. “This is a temporary arrangement with conditions including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted,” he said.
He added that Uganda has a preference regarding who will be considered under the agreement. “Uganda also prefers that individuals from African countries shall be the ones transferred to Uganda,” the statement noted.
According to Bagiire, the two governments are still “working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented.”
The agreements are part of the Trump administration’s wider push for deportation deals with countries across several continents, including those with controversial human rights records.
At least a dozen nations have signed on so far.
Earlier this month, Rwanda also confirmed it would accept up to 250 migrants from the US under a similar arrangement, though officials said Kigali would have “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement.”
Human rights groups have previously raised concerns over such deals, warning that migrants could face secondary deportations to countries where they may be at risk.
