Uganda said on Thursday it has agreed with the United States to receive some third-country nationals who fail to qualify for asylum in the U.S. and are unwilling to return home—one day after a senior official publicly denied any such arrangement.
The temporary deal excludes people with criminal records and unaccompanied minors and will prioritise African nationals, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Vincent Bagiire Waiswa said in a statement. “The two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented,” he added.
On Wednesday, another foreign affairs official told reporters Uganda had no agreement to take deportees and lacked facilities to host them. The ministry’s statement on Thursday clarified that Kampala will accept a limited, conditional intake under the new arrangement.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump presses plans to deport millions of people who entered the U.S. illegally, expanding removals to third countries. Washington has also sought transfers of convicted criminals to nations including South Sudan and Eswatini.
A U.S. ally in East Africa, Uganda already hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. Authorities did not disclose when arrivals under the new arrangement might begin or how many people Uganda could receive.