Refugees use Ugandan children to get more relief

UN Secretary General António Guterres and Uganda's Prime Minister Ruhakana Rukundi, visit refugee settlement areas in Northern Uganda in 2017. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • The Gulu District LC5 chairperson, Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, said village chairpersons will be held accountable.
    “Our children are not refugees and are meant to be in school. They should not to be used to conduct dubious deals. Whoever is part of this trade will be dealt with accordingly,” Mr Mapenduzi warned.

Gulu. Local leaders in Gulu District have raised the red flag against South Sudan refugees using Ugandan children to disguise as refugees to help them get more relief items from the Office of the Prime Minister and other humanitarian organisations.

The food ratio per person in refugee settlement camps monthly includes; maize flour 11.7 Kgs, 0.9 litres of cooking oil, a mixture of nutritious maize flour amounting to 1.5 Kg and salt 0.15kg.
According to leaders, children of ages five to 13 years are ferried from Gulu District and taken to several refugee settlements in the West-Nile region to disguise as South Sudanese refugees.

In an interview with Daily Monitor at the weekend, the LC3 councillor of Kanyagoga Parish, Bardege Division in Gulu Municipality, Ms Rose Lucaci, said last Thursday she found five children of school-going age by the roadside looking for a place to take photos which they can attach on their letters so that they are able to travel to the camps.
Upon interrogation, Ms Lucaci said she discovered that a chain of people were involved, including parents and guardians of the children who had consented to having them taken by to the settlement camps.

“We cannot tell how many children have been ferried and when they started ferrying them. We are yet to establish the details after compiling the list of the missing children. Before a child is taken to the refugee settlement camp, whoever has responsibility over them is given money between Shs10,000 and Shs20,000,” she said.
Mr John Bosco Kinyera, 47, a boda boda rider, revealed that his five-year-old son was given out to the refugees after he developed a misunderstanding with his wife.
Mr Kinyera expressed fear that the refugees might claim his child since they have all the particulars including photos.

He, however, blamed parents especially mothers, for being irresponsible and giving away children without the consent of their fathers.
The Bardege Division chairperson, Mr Patrick Lumumba Oola, said he will convene a meeting in the area to sensitise the residents on the dangers of the business.
“Our fear is that these children might disappear forever and tracing them might not yield any fruit. Whoever is involved will be held accountable. Poverty should not make us sell off our own children,” Mr Oola said.

The Gulu District LC5 chairperson, Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, said village chairpersons will be held accountable.
“Our children are not refugees and are meant to be in school. They should not to be used to conduct dubious deals. Whoever is part of this trade will be dealt with accordingly,” Mr Mapenduzi warned.

Summoned

The community liason officer of Gulu Central Police Station, Mr Moses Ogwang, said investigations are ongoing and that they have so far summoned the LCI chairperson of the area over the issue. Ms Florence Atoo, the LCI chairperson, distanced herself from the lucrative business saying last Thursday she intervened and stopped the transportation of children to West Nile.