An asylum seeker waits outside at the main reception centre for asylum seekers, in Ter Apel, Netherlands August 26, 2022
October 17 — The conservative Dutch government is weighing a plan to send rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda.
Netherlands Trade and Development minister, Reinette Klever, unveiled the idea on Wednesday during a visit to Uganda but it was not immediately clear whether such a plan would be legal or feasible, or whether Uganda would be amenable to it.
“We are open to any discussions,” Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo said in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS.
The plan follows a European trend to create “return hubs” outside the EU, housing rejected asylum seekers before returning them to their home countries.
The United Kingdom entered into an agreement with Rwanda where African rejected asylum seekers are sent to Rwanda.
Asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa countries to Israel, are being diverted to Uganda in addition to refugees who seek asylum from neighbouring countries infested by civil wars. Uganda is a den of refugees from Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, and many other countries.
