Dutch Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Reinette Klever with Gen. Jeje Odongo, Uganda’s foreign affairs minister. (Photo courtesy of New Vision and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
By Joto La Jiwe
The government of the Netherlands has approached Uganda authorities with a proposal that could see the East African nation become a “return hub” for African refugees whose asylum applications are rejected by the European Union member state in exchange for financial compensation.
The Dutch Trade and Development Minister Reinette Klever unveiled the proposal during a recent visit to Uganda, and Foreign Affairs Minister Gen. Jeje Odong said Uganda is open to discussions.
The idea has similarities to a now-abandoned British plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda, Uganda’s neighbor to the south. That plan was announced in 2022 but was rejected by the U.K.’s Supreme Court in 2023, which declared that Rwanda was not a safe country. The Conservative Party continued to pursue that plan and in April enacted a law classifying Rwanda as a safe country. However, the Labor Party, which ousted the Conservatives in July’s election, has canceled the plan.
According to the NL Times, Klever’s spokesperson said that there had been “broad discussions about migration,” including a “brief” discussion about “the possibility of receiving rejected asylum seekers in the region around Uganda, like in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan.”
However, Uganda’s junior minister of state for foreign affairs, Henry Oryem Okello, told international media that Uganda is already sheltering 1.6 million refugees from Sudan, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We don’t deport any refugees. Why do European countries deport refugees?” Okello says.
Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged that the proposal to deport refugees to Uganda might not be feasible for now.
“It is a serious plan, but a lot still needs to be worked out. We need to see collectively how we can limit the flow of asylum seekers and stimulate returns. It will be a process of trial and error, but it’s important that we look at what we can do,” Schoof told reporters in Brussels.
For a deal to be reached, the discussions will need to address a number of fundamental questions, including the fate of LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and the legality of the deal in both Uganda and the Netherlands.
Uganda has enacted harsh penalties against LGBTQ people through its Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), as part of a broad crackdown on queer people, expression, and organization. LGBTQ asylum seekers sent to Uganda could be put at risk of persecution, discrimination, and violence.
Human rights advocates have already raised a red alert about the proposal.
Frank Mugisha, a prominent LGBTQI+ rights advocate and the head of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Don’t send LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to Uganda @DutchMFA.”
Nicholas Opiyo, a renowned human rights lawyer described the proposed deal as very ‘un-Dutch’ saying that it will leave asylum seekers in legal limbo, effectively stateless in both Uganda and the Netherlands and more exposed to danger. He says such a proposal would not only violate international law but also signify a major shift from the Netherlands’ tradition of upholding human rights.
Opposition to the controversial proposal is also coming from within the Dutch political opposition, citing Uganda’s bad human rights record.
“We have to be very vigilant when it comes to LGBTI people,” the Guardian quoted Claudia van Zanten of the populist farmer’s party BBB.
It is still too early to tell if the deal will go through, but Uganda, which has a history of using refugees as political leverage in its dealings with Western countries, the proposal may be too good to reject. Western countries have often turned a blind eye to Uganda’s human rights violations under Museveni’s rule in exchange for cooperation on refuges and other controversial issues.
Joto La Jiwe, the author of this article, is a Ugandan correspondent for the African Human Rights Media Network. He writes under a pseudonym. Contact him at [email protected].
Source: African Human Rights Media Network member Erasing 76 Crimes.
COMMENTS