Afghan refugees expected in Uganda

After days of discussion, Uganda has confirmed it will receive evacuees from Afghanistan. Esther Anyakun, Uganda's deputy minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, said the country will be receiving 145 evacuees from Afghanistan on Sunday.

"The International Red Cross and other development partners have been working with us to see the people who we are going to evacuate by tomorrow. Just 145," Anyakun said on Saturday.

Last week, Anyakun said President Yoweri Museveni told her to make preparations to host up to 2,000 refugees from Afghanistan. According to Anyakun, Uganda expects to host the refugees temporarily for a period of three months or longer.

"We have been requested to host 2,000 refugees. We are expecting them to be brought in shifts of 500," Anyakun said.

United Nations High Commission for Refugees Uganda representative Joel Boutroue also confirmed the decision to receive the Afghan refugees in Uganda.

"We welcome the decision and the generosity of the Ugandan government. What we are currently doing is we are preparing in collaboration with the office of the prime minister receiving them at the airport and lodging them. Then there will be screening, testing and resettlement," Boutroue said.

According to UNHCR, Uganda is one of the world's largest refugee-hosting countries, with nearly 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers living there, the majority from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.