Uganda has denied agreement with Israel to host thousands of African migrants who have been ordered to leave the Middle East country within 90 days or face jail.
“We have no agreement with the Israeli government to send refugees from other countries that are in Israel to Uganda. We are baffled with the reports,” said Mr Henry Oryem Okello, the State Minister in charge of International Affairs, local online website, the Daily Monitor reports.
In a telephone interview Okello stressed that the country has no agreement with the government of Israel whatsoever and that Israel should explain how they reached at the decision.
The minister’s denial comes after Israel offered to pay thousands of African migrants living illegally in the country to leave or risk being jailed if caught after the end of March.
Majority of the migrants in the country hail from Eritrea and Sudan and are said to have fled war and persecution as well as economic hardship.
The plan launched this week offers African migrants a $3,500 payment from the Israeli government and a free air ticket to return home or go to “third countries”, which rights groups identified as Rwanda and Uganda.
So far, 20,000 have been expelled from the country.
An immigration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there are some 38,000 migrants living illegally in Israel, and some 1,420 are being held in two detention centers
