Uganda denies report of deportation deal with US for African, Asian immigrants
According to the country's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Uganda, which hosts over two million refugees and asylum seekers, does not have the capacity to take in additional immigrants.
Uganda has dismissed reports suggesting that Kampala has entered into a deportation deal with Washington to receive African and Asian migrants who had sought asylum at the United States-Mexico border.
According to the country's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, Uganda, which hosts over two million refugees and asylum seekers, does not have the capacity to take in additional immigrants.
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He added that Kampala has not signed any agreement on the same with the Donald Trump administration.
"To the best of my knowledge, we have not reached such an agreement," the Minister told Reuters via text message.
"We do not have the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such illegal immigrants in Uganda."
The minister's remarks came after CBS News reported that Uganda had allegedly agreed to receive an unspecified number of non-criminal migrants, though US officials did not provide details on the figures.
According to the report, the United States struck a similar agreement with Honduras, under which the Central American nation will receive several hundred deportees over two years, including families with children, with provisions to take in more if needed.
Both agreements are reported to be part of a broader push by the Trump administration to extend deportation arrangements beyond Latin America.
They fall under the US "safe third country" provision, which allows asylum seekers to be transferred to another nation deemed safe and capable of handling their claims.
The policy is rooted in Trump's campaign pledge to tighten immigration measures and speed up deportations of undocumented migrants.
The Trump administration has been courting several African countries to take in asylum seekers barred from entering the United States.
Earlier this month, Rwanda agreed to host up to 250 migrants under a separate arrangement, though officials in Kigali stressed each case would be reviewed individually.
Washington has similarly deported immigrants convicted of violent crimes from countries including Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Laos, Myanmar, and Yemen to conflict-hit South Sudan and Eswatini.
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