Uganda has denied allegations that it is going to host African asylum seekers from Israel.
A government spokesperson says there is no such arrangement between Uganda and the Israeli government.
Uganda says it cannot reach such a deal with Israel without the involvement of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo says there is no such agreement with the UN or any signed bilateral arrangement with Israel to host its asylum seekers.
“And therefore it is not true, Uganda has no such arrangement to have en-masse deportation or transfer of refugees from anywhere in the world into Uganda,” Ofwono told CCTV’s Michael Baleke.
Israel authorities are allegedly set to begin deporting asylum seekers to countries in Africa.
Uganda and Rwanda are the African countries tipped to receive the asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan.
Uganda says it has no capacity to host large numbers of refugees.
“Our immigration system is tightened and we on the look out for people of that nature,” said Ofwono Opondo
Uganda is home to over 600,000 refugees most of them from the war torn Democratic republic of Congo, South Sudan and Somalia.
African asylum seekers is Israel
Israel announced on Tuesday its plan to start deporting asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan to unnamed third countries in Africa.
According to the interior minister, Gilad Erdan, the move will “encourage infiltrators to leave the borders of the state of Israel in an honourable and safe way, and serve as an effective tool for fulfilling our obligations towards Israeli citizens and restoring the fabric of life to the residents of south Tel Aviv”.
Until now, the state exerted pressure and provided a one-off monetary incentive for asylum seekers to leave voluntarily, but only if they signed written consent. Now the state will give them 30 days to leave; those who refuse will face a hearing to determine their indefinite imprisonment.
