Uganda offers refugees a home away from home

Five years ago, Moses*, 39, fled with his family to Uganda to escape ethnic violence in his home area of North Kivu, in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, he is employed as a hairstylist at a high-end beauty parlor at the Fairway Hotel in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala.

“Ugandans are very hospitable and welcoming. I make a good living here, and can take care of my family very well,” says Moses, who spent nearly a year in Nakivale refugee settlement in Southwestern Uganda before finding his way to Kampala in search of better employment opportunities.

“He is very talented and hard-working. We have seen a significant increase in the number of customers since he joined us,” the salon manager says of Moses.

Uganda is currently the third-largest refugee-hosting country in Africa after Ethiopia and Kenya. More than 500,000 refugees from 13 countries are settled in Uganda in various refugee settlements in nine districts, according to a World Bank study on Forced Displacement and Mixed Migration in the Horn of Africa. Nakivale is the 8th largest refugee settlement in the world, hosting more than 60,000 refugees, the majority of them from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda’s 2006 Refugee Act, considered one of the most progressive and generous in the world, provides free healthcare and education in refugee settlements and permits refugees to move freely in the country. Many refugees like Moses have benefitted from Uganda’s open door policy that gives them a chance to start life afresh, in dignity. Refugees are given fertile land to grow food for the entire duration of their stay in the country, and can work or set up businesses to help them become self-sufficient and less dependent on handouts. This has enabled many of them to contribute to the local economy, and to be able to rebuild their lives and communities upon return to their home countries.

“It is my view that an economically empowered refugee is beneficial to the national economy and as a nation we should work towards this,” noted Uganda’s Ambassador Marcel Tibaleka to Germany and The Vatican, during a dialogue on “Free Movement of Persons,” held last April in Bonn.

Despite the progressive refugee policy, Uganda is beginning to buckle under the pressure of the continued influx of refugees, particularly from South Sudan. More than 70,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda since violence broke out in Juba on July 8 between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to former First Vice President Riek Machar. More than 85% of the new arrivals are women and children, with children comprising 64% of new arrivals. This is putting a strain on host communities, with local government authorities and agencies unable to cope or provide basic and essential services.

In Adjumani district, which hosts the bulk of South Sudanese refugees, the number of refugees has shot up to 170,000, threatening to outnumber the 210,000 registered locals in the area.

“If the population of refugees in Adjumani outnumber the population of the host community, the pressure on the environment and social services will be high,” observes Titus Jogo, the Refugee Desk Officer (RDO) in charge of Adjumani under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

OPM Commissioner for Refugees David Apollo Kazungu said in a statement: “People are fleeing because they are afraid for their lives. Our communities are welcoming them and giving them what we can: land and hope for a better future. But our message to the international community is this: We need your help to meet their basic needs until they are able to stand on their own two feet.”

In May this year, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved $175 million in financing to provide relief to refugee-host communities in the Horn of Africa, including Uganda. Funding for the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) comes from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest, and includes $100 million to Ethiopia, $50 million to Uganda, $20 million to Djibouti – all at low to no interest – and a $5 million grant to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to establish a regional secretariat for Forced Displacement and Mixed Migration. The secretariat will support a holistic regional response, backed by data, to influence interventions in both refugee-hosting and refugee-producing countries.

The Bank is working very closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to seek solutions to the refugee crisis in Uganda, including by improving access to basic services, expanding economic opportunities, and enhancing environmental management for communities hosting refugees.

“The generosity of the Ugandan host community in sharing their meager resources and services with refugees over decades, especially in Northern Uganda, is truly remarkable, notwithstanding their own struggles,” said Christina Malmberg Calvo, World Bank Country Manager in Uganda.

“The DRDIP is a first of its kind for the Government of Uganda and will offer much needed relief to the refugee humanitarian response alongside support to host communities to cope better. In a way the project will enable the Government to provide a ‘generosity dividend’ to the host communities through investments to improve their social and economic well-being,” said Varalakshmi Vemuru, Senior Social Development Specialist and lead author of a new World Bank report, An Assessment of Uganda’s Progressive Approach to Refugee Management. The report is supported by the Global Program on Forced Displacement.

*not his real name

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Engendering hope: Uganda’s progressive policies on refugee management

For several decades now, Uganda has been generously hosting refugees and asylum seekers from the conflict-affected countries in its neighborhood, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. Since achieving its independence in 1962, the country has been hosting an average of approximately 161,000 refugees per year; and the numbers crossed 550,000 in August 2016. In three weeks since the latest fighting in South Sudan broke out on 8 July, nearly 37,491 people were forced to flee to Uganda, more than in the first six months of 2016, according to UNHCR.

Uganda’s door is open to all asylum seekers, and the country is lauded for having one of the best refugee law and policy regimes in the world. Uganda has emerged as a country possessing a very receptive climate for refugees and “the place where the rest of the world can learn something about the treatment of refugees” according to a 2015 feature by ZIET Online editor Von Philip Faigle. While Uganda is experiencing an ongoing “silent emergency” due to a “slow but steady” refugee influx, especially from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more recently, Burundi and South Sudan, it has nevertheless kept its asylum door open to all seeking refuge within its borders. Pope Francis himself, upon his visit to Uganda in November 2015, praised the country for showing “outstanding concern for welcoming refugees, enabling them to rebuild their lives.”

There have been attempts to understand why Uganda and Ugandans are exceptional in their openness and generosity toward refugees. Explanations range from many Ugandans themselves having been refugees or internally displaced at one time, the cultural and linguistic openness of Ugandan society, ethnic affinities between Ugandans and many refugees from across the border, the political ideology of Pan-Africanism, and decades of political stability despite its geographical location in a turbulent neighborhood.

Refugee policy regimes globally fall along a continuum of allowing or disallowing refugee’s freedom of movement, the right to work, and property ownership rights; in countries hosting refugees. Global experience shows that self-reliant refugees are better prepared to return to their countries of origin. In both new and protracted displacement situations, enhancing self-reliance of refugees requires a conducive legal and policy framework as seen in Uganda.

While the main focus of domestic refugee laws in many countries is regulating the asylum and refugee status determination process and setting up national refugee agencies, few have provisions effectively addressing the key development issues associated with displacement.

The overall objective of the assessment on Uganda’s Approach to Refugee Management was to analyze the evolving refugee policy and practices in Uganda to better understand how well the policy framework has contributed to the refugees’ well-being and self-reliance; and identify key areas of policy and practice that can be better implemented to enhance social and economic benefits for refugee and host communities. The World Bank, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, the government of Uganda, and UNHCR Uganda, undertook the assessment.

Uganda’s progressive refugee policy and legal framework has many impressive aspects: (1) opening Uganda’s door to all asylum seekers irrespective of their nationality or ethnic affiliation, (2) granting refugees relative freedom of movement; administrative permits to leave and return to their designated settlements, and the right to seek employment; (3) providing prima facie asylum for refugees of certain nationalities; and (4) giving a piece of land to each refugee family for their own exclusive (agricultural) use.

According to the report, the 2006 Refugees Act and the 2010 Refugees Regulations embody key refugee protection principles and freedoms, including: (1) the right to own and dispose of movable property and to lease or sublease immoveable property; (2) the right to engage in agriculture, industry, and business; practice ones profession; and access formal and informal employment opportunities; (3) the right to economic, social, and cultural benefits, including access to elementary education, protection of intellectual property rights; (4) entitlement to receive fair and just treatment, without discrimination – among others.

There is however one significant limitation of the legal framework as it does not provide the permanent solution of citizenship for refugees who can neither repatriate nor be resettled elsewhere; not very different from most countries in Africa or across the world. Refugees can, however, vote and be elected at the village level, per Section 46(3) of the Local Government Act and the constitution.

Social impacts are circumscribed by the underlying poverty and vulnerabilities exacerbated by weak basic social services delivery, poor infrastructure, and limited market opportunities in the refugee hosting settlement areas that impacts refugees and host communities alike. However, refugees located in rural settlements, whether on community-owned or gazetted lands, are able to access basic services, receive physical protection, and cultivate land provided to them for self-sustenance. Refugees with some income or ability to fend for themselves are self-settled in urban centers. A commendable level of peaceful coexistence is evident between refugees and host communities in all of the settlements. Intermarriages are reported in many settlements, contributing to improved relationships.

Economic opportunities for refugees in terms of employment (formal and informal) and access to productive capital varies in rural and urban areas. More than 78 percent of refugees in rural settlements are engaged in agricultural activities compared with 5 percent in urban areas. Crop surpluses attract Ugandan traders to the refugee settlements, operating as a direct supply chain. The refugee labor force participation rate (LFPR) is an average 38 percent compared with Uganda’s 74 percent. A variety of nonfarm activities supplement agriculture, including trade, which is facilitated by the freedom of movement and right to work per the Ugandan Refugees Act. Business enterprises such as bars, hair dressing, milling, transportation, money transfers, and retail are run by refugees. In terms of employability and economic integration of refugees, almost 43 percent are actively engaged in the labor market of their host communities: 12 percent in the formal sector and 31 percent self-employed.

The conclusions of the study are that as the government of Uganda and UNHCR strive to reduce poverty and mitigate risk for vulnerable refugees and their host communities, the close involvement of key stakeholders, such as district leadership, sector ministries, host communities, and refugees, is imperative. A shift in the philosophy of refugee assistance is also crucial: refugees should be viewed as economic actors in charge of their destiny (development approach) rather than as beneficiaries of aid (humanitarian approach). To ensure impact, the focus should be on transformative investments that will address the pressing needs of refugees and host communities alike and that will jump-start local economies. Further, a comprehensive approach is needed to enhance girls and women’s access to education and livelihoods and to reduce security and safety risks among them. Specific attention and backstopping is needed for urban refugees – especially youth – to enable them to benefit from social and economic opportunities without being exploited or resorting to risky behaviors.