Uganda’s Commissioner for Refugees Apollo Kazungu and three of his senior staff are being investigated.

Investigations will also consider whether officials from UN aid agencies were involved.

Uganda is said to host some 1.4 million refugees – welcoming more than any other country in 2016 – mostly from South Sudan and DR Congo.

But these allegations will cast doubts on those figures.

Until recently, Uganda had been widely praised for its immigration policies and described as one of the best places in the world to be a refugee.

The Ugandan Daily Monitor, which first reported the allegations, says the issue was first raised by UN country representative Rosa Malango.

The newspaper says she raised three issues, including “doubtful” numbers of refugees, the trafficking of women and children, and fraud.

One spot check in the capital Kampala found just 7,000 people when there were reported to be 26,000 needing aid, the Daily Monitor reports, leading to questions about where the money and resources for the missing 19,000 were going.

As a result of the accusations, the United States, European Union and UK are all threatening to withhold funding to the country, the UK’s Guardian newspaper says.

“At the moment these are allegations and will be treated as such,” a spokesman for Uganda’s prime minister told the BBC.

“The investigations will determine what the facts are and what action to take. These reports do not change or deter Uganda’s long-held record and commitment to providing safety to refugees.”

The majority of Uganda’s refugees have fled violence in South Sudan – where civil conflict between the government and rival factions has killed tens of thousands of people since 2013.

Musa Ecweru, state minister for relief and disaster preparedness, assured the Guardian that measures would be taken to prevent any fraud in future, suggesting biometric registration for all refugees entering the country.

Uganda registered more refugees than any other country in 2016. Here are the latest key UN figures on refugees around the world:

• 2.4 million South Sudan refugees and asylum seekers have fled the country since 2013
• 5.5 million Syrian refugees are currently registered – the UN began tracking their numbers in 2012
• More than 647,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from Myanmar (Burma) to Bangladesh since August 2017
• In 2016 and 2017, 486,140 migrants crossed the Mediterranean sea to enter Europe, and 6,989 died in the attempt.

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Source: BBC

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a case in response to the order issued on Friday.
The ACLU estimates that between 100 and 200 people are being detained at airports or in transit.

Thousands of people have been protesting at US airports over Mr Trump’s clampdown on immigration.
His executive order halted the entire US refugee programme and also instituted a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Trump’s first week: Well, that was intense
Those who were already mid-flight were detained on arrival – even if they held valid US visas or other immigration permits.

On Saturday, Mr Trump told reporters: “It’s working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over.”

‘Irreparable injury’
The ruling, from US District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York, prevented the removal from the US of people with approved refugee applications, valid visas, and “other individuals… legally authorised to enter the United States”.

The emergency ruling also said there was a risk of “substantial and irreparable injury” to those affected.

Her ruling is not on the constitutionality of Mr Trump’s executive order. What will happen to those still held at airports remains unclear.

‘Dreams shattered’ – those affected
“The feeling of injustice is so big, and this ban is so demeaning! Shame!” – Syrian scientist working on skin cancer research and living in Germany who now finds she cannot travel to Philadelphia in February to visit colleagues.

“Dreams shattered” – cardiology fellow from Jordan whose Syrian wife’s family cannot come to visit in the US.

“We may try our chances with other countries” – Iranian professional in Washington DC, whose wife is now stuck in Iran.

US entry ban victims vent fury
Early on Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would comply with judicial rulings but would continue to enforce Mr Trump’s order.

The case was brought early on Saturday on behalf of two Iraqi men detained at JFK Airport in New York.

One worked for the US military in Iraq. The other is married to a former US military contract employee.
Both have now been released. Another court hearing is set for February.

Lee Gelernt, deputy legal director of the Immigrants Rights Project, who argued the case in court said that some people had been threatened with being “put back on a plane” later on Saturday.

Mr Gelernt also said the judge had ordered the government to provide a list of names of those detained under the order.

In addition to those detained on arrival in the US, some air passengers were prevented from boarding US-bound flights after the order was signed.

On Saturday five Iraqi passengers and a Yemeni national were prevented from boarding a flight at Cairo airport bound for New York.

Dutch airline KLM said it had turned away seven people who were booked on US-bound flights because they would no longer have been accepted
The restriction applies to dual nationals – so, for example, a British citizen who is also a citizen of Iran would not be able to enter the US.

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Soure: BBC

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