Uganda denies deal with US to receive foreign deportees

By Hamza Kyeyune

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Uganda on Wednesday dismissed reports that Kampala has agreed with Washington to receive foreign US deportees.

Uganda's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem told Anadolu that the East African country has not reached a bilateral deportation agreement with the US and has no capacity to accommodate such foreign deportees.

"To the best of my knowledge, we have not reached such an agreement,” the minister told Anadolu.

“We do not have the capacity to accommodate such foreign deportees from the United States in Uganda,” he added.

On Tuesday, CBS News reported that Uganda had agreed with the US government to accept deported African and Asian migrants who had claimed asylum on the US-Mexico border.

So far, at least three African countries - South Sudan, Rwanda, and Eswatini - have agreed to accept migrants deported from the US.

Last month, the US sent 13 deportees it described as dangerous criminals who were in the US illegally to South Sudan and Eswatini.

The Trump administration aims to deport millions of immigrants in the US to third countries.

Human rights activists have condemned the policy, saying migrants face the risk of being sent to countries where they could be harmed.