Global Theme: Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.
Every 20 June, the world celebrates World Refugee Day to honor refugees worldwide for their strength and resilience. This year, the commemoration focuses on the right to seek safety. Every person has the right to seek safety – whoever they are, wherever they come from, and whenever they are forced to flee. Uganda remains a generous country with a long history of over 60 years of hosting refugees. It currently hosts over 1.5 million refugees, making it a top African refugee-hosting country and among the top five countries worldwide. Every migrant is entitled to safe and dignified treatment like any other human being as they seek asylum.
Today, world leaders and their nations are reminded not to discriminate against migrants at borders. Borders should remain open to all people forced to flee their homes, since seeking asylum is a human right. The World Refugee Day campaign highlights the major challenges refugees face globally as they seek safety. Ensuring refugee safety is a pressing issue in refugee protection. More people are on the move than ever before due to wars, climate change, and other crises. Every minute, 30 individuals around the globe are displaced. Unfortunately, growing xenophobia, closure of borders, and fear of asylum seekers in many countries has led to a tendency to view refugees not as victims of war but as perpetrators of insecurity. This kind of aggression has resulted in interception measures and higher barriers to indiscriminate detention, threatening refugee safety.
Uganda hosts refugees from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea. With the ongoing fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda has opened its borders to over 25,000 new arrivals through the Bunagana border. Through the Office of the Prime Minister, UNHCR, and humanitarian partners, the Government of Uganda manages transit centers for asylum seekers along the Uganda–DRC border and is responding to the emergency. Despite struggling to sustain refugee operations, Uganda continues to share its limited resources with refugees.
During the launch of the three-year Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan 2022–2025 in Kampala, the Minister of Disaster Preparedness in the Office of the Prime Minister revealed that Uganda needs 1.5 trillion shillings annually to cater for refugees living in the country. Most people on the move are from poor countries, and these countries cannot support Uganda to sustain the refugee population. The host communities that welcome refugees are themselves often struggling to survive. However, the Government of Uganda continues to establish safe access to all people forced to flee and integrates them within settlements in the refugee-hosting districts. While Uganda continues to receive refugees and enable them to access available services through government institutions like any other Ugandan, especially those within their areas of settlement, much more must be done to support Uganda’s comprehensive refugee policy.
In 2018, world leaders adopted a new global compact at the United Nations: one on refugees and one on migration. Whereas the compact emphasized that refugees should be helped and treated with respect at every stage of migration, hosting countries are struggling to ensure refugees live dignified lives due to challenges in accessing basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care. The vulnerability of refugees is magnified when they have limited resources like food, medical care, shelter, financial support, security, fuelwood, and safe clean water. Refugees within settlements face physical security challenges, and some live in constant fear due to inadequate protection. There have been cases of kidnapping, trafficking, and disappearance of refugees.
The Refugee Law Project’s 2001 paper on “Refugees and the Security Situation in Adjumani” highlighted critical security threats that refugees face. Victims of war-related violence have complained of meeting perpetrators within settlements, causing many to live in constant fear. More reinforcement is needed to address these issues and ensure that specific categories of migrants are appropriately settled for the safety and peace of all. Reported cases should be properly investigated and actions taken. The government should pay special attention to high-profile asylum seekers and ex-combatants to help overcome their fears and protection needs. Breakdown of the family network also causes trauma and insecurity, making family reunification a key priority to enhance individual and community safety. The family is considered the first unit of safety, and reuniting separated families should be prioritized.
The national theme also focuses on the right to seek safety, protection, and conservation of the environment. UNHCR estimates that 20–25 million trees are cut down annually in and around refugee settlements, with 90% of this deforestation driven by the urgent need for cooking fuel. Refugees within settlements are particularly challenged with access to fuel, and the resulting environmental problems threaten safe living conditions and livelihoods. Women and children, who often travel long distances to collect firewood, are at increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence as deforestation widens the wood collection perimeter. Environmental degradation also heightens the risk of conflict between refugees and host communities. Schools consume large amounts of fuelwood, further increasing demand, and alternative energy sources need to be established. Human waste within schools could be used to produce clean energy for cooking.
Access to food within refugee families has been severely affected by reductions in food and cash rations by the World Food Programme. Coupled with poverty, unemployment, and low income, this situation worsens conditions for refugees at individual, family, and community levels. The World Health Organization stresses that food safety, nutrition, and food security are inextricably linked. A lack of safe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, which burdens public health services, disrupts progress, and reduces quality of life. Refugees should be supported with land and other mechanisms for food production to enhance food security. They also need to be empowered with information so they are less vulnerable to exploitation as they seek alternatives for survival.
The Refugee Law Project promotes the safety and protection of refugees within Uganda. We have championed the promotion of understanding refugee rights, obligations, and protection, and we continue to broaden awareness of refugee issues, safety, and peaceful coexistence between refugees and host communities. We advocate for respect for the rights of refugees and all other categories of migrants and for non-discrimination in their treatment.
