Prime
Govt repatriates 1,000 Ugandans
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Aggrey Kibenge. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- The group is part of the 1,500 Ugandans who registered at the UAE repatriation centre to fly back.
- The development comes amid the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) organising a similar effort that has so far returned 41 people.
More than 1,000 Ugandans who have been stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)have been repatriated, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Aggrey Kibenge, has said.
The group is part of the 1,500 Ugandans who registered at the UAE repatriation centre to fly back.
The development comes amid the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) organising a similar effort that has so far returned 41 people.
According to Mr Kibenge, the government has been coordinating the exercise with the UAE Embassy after it offered amnesty to citizens from different nationalities who have been staying in the UAE illegally.
“Some had expired visas, so they offered them amnesty and asked them to register at the Al Awir immigration centre,” he said.
Last week, 156 Ugandans were returned under the same arrangement.
Mr Kibenge added that if one reports under this amnesty arrangement, they have an opportunity to return to UAE if they want.
“But those who have not reported risk losing their passports since they are blacklisted, and they will find a hard time going back,” he said.
“So we encourage Ugandans in UAE to respond to this call so they can be facilitated. The embassy has been facilitating them with travel documents. The Ugandan government has also provided emergency travel documents to those without to have them brought back,” the Gender PS added.
Mr Kibenge said the government was also considering engaging the UAE to extend the three-month repatriation period, which expires this month.
Mr Kibenge urged returnees to cooperate and provide helpful information to the government to clump down on unlicensed companies.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs will be interested in knowing who these agents are that are illegally taking our people out there to suffer,” Mr Kibenge said.
The Ugandan ambassador to UAE, Mr Kibedi Zaake, told the Monitor that of the 1,500 Ugandans, only 160 lack travel emergency documents, adding that plans are underway to clear them.
He said the priority was being given to those who are very sick, the pregnant, and those with children.
