A Look At Uganda And Europe: How Well Are They Dealing With Refugee Crises?

For the last two years we have seen headline after headline about the ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe. I am not sure how many times you have read about, watched or heard of Uganda over the same period. But Uganda faces one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing refugee crises.

The continued influx of South Sudanese refugees from a country grappling with a civil war and famine has forced more than 1.5 million refugees to seek asylum in the Eastern Africa region, with Uganda hosting an estimated 700,000 of them.

According to reports by the United Nations Refugee Agency, thousands continue to arrive daily and some 925,000 South Sudanese refugees are forecasted to reach Uganda by year’s end. 

A country still recovering from its own past conflicts knows very well what it is like to face war and displacement. Uganda is among the top 10 refugee hosting nations in the world, and just three decades ago Ugandans were scattered in different parts of the world running away from civil war and political strife. 

Its record of allowing humanitarian access, land and free movement for refugees has been applauded internationally, as many look for good practices amid the pingpong played by European countries in the face of the largest human displacements in decades.

Uganda continues to receive higher numbers of refugees per day compared to most European countries. While the conditions are different and the approaches vary, Uganda’s policies continue to draw positive media coverage and lessons for many countries. 

Africa Check looks at the comparison between Uganda and Europe in the face of the refugee crises.