The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has laid off at least 700 Ugandan health workers, citing limited funding.
The global organization best known for protecting people forced to flee their homes, as well as stateless persons, disclosed that since the COVID-19 pandemic period in 2020, funding has been on a decline curve, yet the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers have been going up.
Addressing journalists Last week shortly after the media workshop during which a number of reporters were trained on refuge coverage, UNHCR country representative Matthew Crentsil noted that over the years, Uganda’s ‘dynamic and complex’ refugee situation presented to the organisation a mix of accomplishments and challenges.
Crentsil explained that out of the total requirement of S846m (sh3.13 trillion) for Uganda’s Refugee Response Plan (URRP) last year, only S294.3m (shi trillion), representing 35% was received.
This, he said, represented a further reduction of Si2om (sh444.6b) compared to the amount received in 2022.
“We have made some painful decisions, including laying off our workers, due to the reducing financial and material support, despite the continuous and increasing influx of refugees into the country,” Crentsil revealed.
The UNHRC boss explained that despite the challenges, the organisation has continued to support refugees, attributing this to the collaborative relationship between them and the Office of the Prime Minister, in addition to support from other stakeholders.
“Significant gaps in protection and assistance persisted in the refugee response despite the efforts. These experiences defined our collective journey towards a meaningful and sustainable refugee response, aiming at ensuring self-reliance and adequate social protection for refugees and asylum seekers in the country,” Crentsil said.
He lauded Uganda’s refugee opendoor policy and progressive protection, saying it has commendably set the country apart as a popular haven in the region.
“It is, therefore, not accidental that Uganda hosts the highest number of refugees and asylum seekers in Africa and ranks as the third largest globally,” Crentsil said.
As of last month, Uganda was hosting over 1.6 million refugees and asylum seekers across the refugee camps and host communities in the country, according to UNHCR.
About 300,000 refugees flocked into the country in the last two years, with the biggest number being from South Sudan, the DR Congo (DRC) and Burundi.
REFUGEES DISAPPEAR
UNHCR country representative Matthew Crentsil revealed that between 2021 and 2023, an exercise to verify the number of refugees in Uganda was conducted, but 314,402 of them did not show up.
He explained that there were spontaneous departures of refugees to other countries, while some returned to their countries of origin.
“This exercise provided vital socio-economic data for the planning of protection and assistance programmes for refugees and guided for a more equitable distribution of food and material assistance based on vulnerability levels,” Crentsil explained.
While a decrease in the refugee population as established by the verification exercise would normally be good news, he said the development was counterbalanced by the registration of other 130,308 individuals, who he said arrived last year.
The number, Crentsil added, maintained the year-end total number of refugees and asylum seekers at 1.6 million.
Frank Walusimbi, the UNHRC associate communications officer, appealed to local communities in Uganda and East Africa to contribute towards the support of refugees, most of whom he said are vulnerable. On June 20, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate the World Refugee Day, which was celebrated in Terego district under the theme, In solidarity with refugees.
