Finance refugees as a devt issue - CSOs

Kampala.

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has asked government to prioritise financing of refugees as a development issue and not as a humanitarian crisis.
The executive director of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), Mr Julius Mukunda, said: “We now need to budget for refugees because they are no longer a disaster.”
He told at a media briefing on Tuesday that budgeting for refugees will reduce the service burden for host districts, including Arua, Adjumani, and Lamwo in northern Uganda, and Hoima and Isingiro in western Uganda.
CSBAG, created in 2004, works to influence government and participates in setting national budget priorities.
“These districts hosting refugees are strained because many refugees share the same services with natives. We do not know when these refugees will be no longer here because many have lived here for decades. That is why we should include them in our budgeting,” Mr Mukunda said.
He said several refugees were benefiting from services such as health and education whose expenditures are never catered for.
Uganda is estimated to be hosting 1.4 million refugees, with the majority coming from South Sudan and DR Congo.
The country also spends more than Shs1.4b on refugees whereas the international community contributes $323m annually.
Mr Mark Egongo, a budget specialist, urged government to embrace biometric registration of refugees to avoid cases of criminal elements infiltrating resettlement camps across the country.