Uganda

Geographical Info

(source: CIA Factbook)

Population: 44 271 000 (UNSD, 2018)

Capital city: Kampala

Independence from UK: 9 October 1962

Government type: Presidential republic (no term limit, no age limit)

Main party/Dominant party: National Resistance Movement

President: Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (since 1986)

Economic activities: 71% of the workforce is in agriculture, products include coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, etc. 7% is in industry, which includes sugar processing, brewing, cement and steel production. 22% is in services. 

Transports: Infrastructure is not well-advanced

Climatic/environmental issues: Tropical, generally rainy with two dry seasons. Natural hazards include droughts, floods, earthquakes, landslides and hailstorms. Environmental issues include 

draining of wetlands for agricultural use, deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, water pollution from industrial discharge and water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria, widespread poaching

Ethnic groups: Baganda 16.5%, Banyankole 9.6%, Basoga 8.8%, Bakiga 7.1%, Iteso 7%, Langi 6.3%, Bagisu 4.9%, Acholi 4.4%, Lugbara 3.3%, other 32.1% (2014)

Official languages: English and Swahili

Recognized regional languages: Ganda or Luganda, other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Arabic

Religions: Protestant 45.1% (Anglican 32.0%, Pentecostal/Born Again/Evangelical 11.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.7%, Baptist 0.3%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, Muslim 13.7%, other 1.6%, none 0.2% (2014)

Social issues: Armed fighting between hostile ethnic groups, rebels, gangs, militias, and various government forces. 

Neighbouring countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania

Historical Background

Migration in Uganda has been driven by political factors, poverty, rapid population growth and the porosity of the international borders (IOM, 2015). After its independence in 1962, Uganda had been experiencing civil war and ethnic strife until the mid-1980’s. In 1986, the National Resistance Movement assumed power, and Yoweri Museveni became president, which he still is in 2019. Since then, the country has progressed towards democracy and it’s economy has grown (IOM, 2015). 

Northern Uganda, however, has had to go through some economic and security issues in the last decades. Approximately 1.7 million people in the Acholi region in the north were displaced because of over 20 years of armed conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony and the Ugandan government. Because of this, and natural and political shocks, the northern regions of Uganda have been relatively underdeveloped, giving rise to persistent inequality issues in the country. Voluntary internal migration has been a pattern in the country throughout history, with major reasons being search for employment (IOM, 2015).

Similar ethnicities live across borders, which means that ethnic ties transcend the borers with neighbouring countries. As the borders with these countries are considered quite porous, and as total border surveillance is practically impossible with current resources, unknown immigration and emigration routinely takes place (IOM, 2015). 

Uganda’s emigration can be categorized in three waves. The first wave happened while Idi Amin Dada was president, when he expelled 80,000 Ugandans of South Asian origin. The second wave happened between 1971 and 1986, when thousands of refugees fled Uganda due to armed conflict and political instability. The third wave is currently happening because of ties with Ugandan diasporas and push and pull factors resulting from globalization’s labour mobility (IO, 2015). 

Uganda has been and is a major destination country for asylum-seekers and refugees, as it lies within a region characterized by conflict and instability and is itself relatively politically stable since Museveni is president. It receives refugees from Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and many more. According to IOM (2015), the country hosted 300,000 refugees in 1995. 

Migration Policies

The most important law that governs migration in Uganda is the Citizenship and Immigration Control Act of 1999, amended in 2009. This law regulates the entry and residence of migrants in Uganda, as well as issues citizenship. It does not govern emigration or return migration (IOM, 2015), and IOM also states it is rather fragmented with no comprehensive framework (IOM, 2018a). Uganda’s Employment Act ensures the same employment opportunities for immigrants as for nationals (IOM, 2018a). 

The Refugees Act (est. 2006) and Refugee Regulations (est. 2010) ensures the freedom of movement for refugees, and ensures access to social services. Furthermore, it allows refugees to apply for permission for a family member to enter and reside in Uganda. Upon registration, refugees are given a plot of land for settlement and agriculture (IOM, 2018a). When the Refugees Act launched it was considered a model for Africa, as it allowed refugees to live in the community instead of in special camps (Akello, 2009). 

The National Policy for Internally Displaced People (est. 2004) and National Policy of Disaster Preparedness and Management (est. 2010) addresses IDP’s, and the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act covers legislation addressing human trafficking (IOM, 2015). 

Uganda is part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Supplementary Provisions of the ILO Migrant Workers Convention, and the Conventions on Statelessness. 

Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Kenya were the founding States of the East African Community (EAC). Uganda adopted the EAC common Market Protocol in 2009, which allowed the free movement of persons and free movement of labour across the EAC (IOM, 2015). 

Governmental Institutions

The National Citizenship and Immigration Board and the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (Ministry of Internal Affairs), is mandated with overseeing the entry and stay of foreigners in the country, the registration of Ugandan nationals, the issuance of passports and travel documents, and border control (IOM, 2015; IOM, 2018a). The Diaspora Services Department (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) manages relationship with the diaspora in other countries (IOM, 2018a). The National Coordination Mechanism on Migration is a formal horizontal interministerial coordination mechanism, established in 2015, comprised of government agencies, international organisations, civil society organisations and academics (IOM, 2018a).  

Internal Migration

In 2002, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics held a National Household Survey, in which the data on internal migration was presented as “recent internal migrants”. A recent internal migrant is a Ugandan-born person who has moved within Uganda and has not lived in their current residence for more than five years. There were 1,349,400 recent internal migrants in 2002 (IOM, 2015). 65.9% of this number was found in urban areas, suggesting more rural-urban migration than urban-rural migration. The number of female internal migrants was greater than the number of male internal migrants in both urban and rural areas (IOM, 2018a). The largest share of internal migrants was 15-29 years old (603,600), followed by those aged 15 or under (501,500).  56.5% said they were working, 39.1% they were unemployed, and 4.4% said they were looking for work (IOM, 2015). According to a study from the Makerere University, insecurity was a significant factor in determining migration in Northern Uganda, whereas in the central region, the reason for migrating was often economic (Nagikanda, 2013). IOM (2015) also states voluntary internal immigration was mostly because of a search for employment, and that marriage and related social movements were also a common reason for female migrants. 

There is a relatively large number of children who migrate, sometimes without and something with parental agreement. In urban areas, migrated children are often involved in begging, scrounging and/or theft to generate income (IOM, 2015). 

Internally Displaced Persons

Conflict

In 2010, there were 140,000 IDP’s due to conflict and violence in Uganda (IOM, 2015). In 2015, this number was 30,000, in 2016 it was 53,000, in 2017 it was 24,000 and in 2018 it was 32,000. The number of internally displaced people have steadily decreased from 2007 to 2018, with the exception of 2016 and 2018, where it increased slightly again (IDMC, 2018a). In 2016, there were 23,000 newly displaced people, because members of the Bakonzo and Bamba ethnic groups in western Rwenzori region clashed following contested local elections and political infighting (IDCM, 2018b). In 2018, there were 9,000 new IDP’s, because of three events triggered by intercommunal clashes and land disputes between local population and the government (IDCM, 2018a). The reason internal displacement is less common than before is because the Lord’s Resistance Army, which displaced thousands of people in its peak days, is no longer a threat in Uganda.  IOM does, however, mention that a decrease in IDP’s does not necessarily mean that they successfully returned or reintegrated to their communities of origin, but that they no longer live in camps (IOM, 2015). 

Disaster

According to IDCM, there were 164,000 newly displaced people in 2018 because of disaster. This was mainly because of a large flood in May, because of which 150,000 people were displaced. 

Immigration

In 2010, the international migrant stock was 492,930 in Uganda (1,5% of the Ugandan population). In 2015, it was 851,175 (2,2% of the Ugandan population). In 2019, the international migrant stock was estimated to be 1,734,166 (3,9% of the Ugandan population) (UNDESA, 2019). Between 2010 and 2015, the net migration rate was -1,7, suggesting there were more emigrants than immigrant. In the years 2015-2020, it is estimated that the net migration rate is 4, suggesting there are many more immigrants than emigrants. 

Most of the immigrants are from other African countries. In 2015, the major countries of origin were the Democratic Republic of Congo (286,214,000 immigrants), South Sudan (262,321,000 immigrants), Rwanda (72,393,000 immigrants), Sudan (66,853,000 immigrants) and Kenya (38,254,000 immigrants) (UNDESA, 2019). The sharp increase of immigrants in the last 5 years is probably because of the South Sudan Civil War, which started in 2014. More on this is discussed in the section on refuges and asylum seekers hosted in the country. 

Female Migration

In 2010, 50,9% (250,901) of the international migrant stock was female. In 2015, this was 51,1% (434,950). In 2019, this was estimated to be 51,8% (898,297) (UNDESA, 2019). 

According to IOM (2015), women immigrants in Uganda are at an increased risk for poor health (specifically HIV) due to their vulnerability, their engagement in sex work for survival, xenophobia, lack of community support, and insufficient information about health risks and access to health services. Utilization of sexual and reproductive health services, such as contraceptive methods, are low (IOM, 2015). 

Children

According to UNICEF, 27% of the international migrant stock in 2017 was under 18 (UNICEF, 2017). Like their mothers as discussed above, children are vulnerable to several forms of abuse, abandonment, stigmatization, malnutrition and a high probability of getting infected by communicable diseases (IOM, 2015). If they are unaccompanied by parents, they are more vulnerable to human trafficking (IOM, 2015). 

More recently, there has been an increase in internal migration involving children, particularly from the Karamoja region to urban centres. They do this to earn money, often by begging. They live in extreme poverty and are highly vulnerable (IOM, 2014). Their reasons for migration are linked to a decrease in number of cattle in their region of origin and a general lack of livelihood opportunities, which leaves the children unable to contribute income to the family. The children then leave for urban centres to make a living in other ways (IOM, 2014). Often though, their migration is circular in nature, meaning that the children return home with their earnings after some time and eventually re-migrate again to earn more (IOM, 2015). 

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Hosted in the country

Uganda has been and still is a major hosting country for asylum seekers and refugees. In 2015, the refugee number was 512,966, including asylum seekers (UNDESA, 2019). According to UNICEF (2017), there were 1,351,000 refugees in 2017 in Uganda, of which 62% was under 18 years old, and 45,000 asylum seekers. In 2019, there is an estimate of 1,395,115 refugees and asylum seekers residing in Uganda, which is 80,4% of the total international migrant stock and 2,7% of the total Ugandan population. The majority of the current refugees originate from South Sudan (1,053,598 in 2018), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (276,570 in 2018) (IOM, 2018b). Uganda also hosts refugees from Burundi, Somalia and other countries. The refugees from DRC are mainly caused by civil unrest and human rights violations in the Ituri province and North and South Kivu. The refugees from South Sudan are fleeing the civil war there, which started in 2014 (IOM, 2018b). Over 80% of newly arrived refugees are women and children (IOM, 2018b). 

From the country

According to UNICEF (2017), there were 6,000 refugees from Uganda. UNHCR states there were 7,000 in 2018. IOM (2015) states that, in 2012, most Ugandan nationals made their asylum applications for South Africa (1,913), followed by the United Kingdom (400), the United States (189), Kenya (240) and Sweden (254). 

Emigration

The search for employment remains the most important pull and push factor for the migration of Ugandans around and out of their country, as there are limited economic opportunities in Uganda. In 2015, there were 733,524,000 Ugandan emigrants abroad. In 2019, the estimate is 734,951,000 (UNDESA, 2019). In 2015, the major destination countries were Kenya (333,789,000 emigrants), South Sudan (145,607,000 emigrants) and the United Kingdom (72,256,000 emigrants). 

Between 1990 and 2013, there was an increase of 153% in the emigrant stock. 2% of international migrants leaving Uganda were under 18 in 2017 (UNICEF, 2018). More women than men emigrated out of the country, and most people moved to Kenya and South Sudan, which are bordering countries. A high number of Ugandans also moved to Europe and North America. In recent years, Ugandans are also emigrating to the Middle East for employment. 

Push factors include the high population growth, which can especially be seen among the younger population; unemployment (youth unemployment is the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa); lack of attractive employment options; difficulty for youth to attain land and natural resources. The major pull factor is the demand for labour in countries of destination (IOM, 2015).  

Labour migration

Because of the ageing population in most OECD countries, and the increasing demand for health personnel, many Ugandan health professionals emigrate abroad. The emigration of such professionals is considered as one of the reasons for the decline of health care in government facilities. Health care workers earn 12 times more in the UK, and four times more in Kenya. The emigration of workers in the in science, technology and the agro-food sectors is also considered a brain drain in Uganda (IOM, 2015). 

Furthermore, there is a high demand for unskilled and semi-skilled labour for jobs such as cleaners, sex workers and security guards in the Middle East and Asia. “The high incidences of trafficking of Ugandans abroad imply that there is high demand for free or extremely cheap labour, which can be abused and exploited to obtain large profits” (IOM, 2015, p.14). 

Human trafficking

Between 2008 and 2013, IOM Uganda assisted a total of 538 victims of trafficking to return to their countries of origin. Between 2008 and 2013, IOM assisted a total of 72 victims of trafficking and exploitation by sex from Ugandan origin back to Uganda. It is, however, difficult to attain the actual number of victims of trafficking, as it is a ‘hidden’ population (IOM, 2015). 

According to CDTC (2019), there are 239 victims of trafficking in 2019, and the three main countries of exploitation were Uganda, Malaysia and Thailand. 72% is female, and 52% is under the age of 17. 69% is trafficking for labour exploitation, 29% for sexual exploitation, 2% for other. Furthermore, CDTC (2019) states that 251 victims of trafficking are currently being exploited in Uganda itself, of which almost 57% is from DRC, 41% is from Uganda, and 1,99% is from other countries. 66% of victims exploited in Uganda are female, and 72% are minors. Labour exploitation is by far the most common form of exploitation in Uganda. 

In terms of governance, Uganda has a Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, from 2008. This Act includes specific types of exploitation such as forced marriage, child marriage, harmful child labour, use of children in armed conflict, a person involved in illegal activities, human sacrifice, the removal of organs or other body parts for sale and harmful ritual practices. 

Remittances

According to the World Bank (2019), in 2016 there was an amount of 1,146 billion USD transferred to Uganda (4,74% of GDP). In 2017, this was 1,166 billion USD (4,48% of GDP), and in 2018 this was 1,23 billion USD (4,47% of GDP). This shows that, in the last years, there has been a slight increase in remittances paid to Uganda. The largest share of remittances is used for household consumption, including education. Approximately one third is used for economic activities such as construction, business and land purchase, as well as savings (IOM, 2015). 

World Bank (2019) reports only limited remittances outflow from Ghana. In 2016, the outflow was 349,353,415 USD, in 2017 it was 344,724,986 USD, and in 2018 it was 382,174,609 USD. 

Returns and Returnees

In 2013, IOM assisted 28 nationals back to Uganda (non-victims of trafficking) (IOM, 2015). In 2018, this was 87 (IOM, 2019). It needs to be noted here that these are IOM assisted returns, and does not account any other returns, such as forced return. 

In 2012, IOM wrote in a report about the returnees that came back to Uganda after the peace agreement between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army in 2006. At the time of May 2012, most of the 1,8 million IDP’s had returned home or established elsewhere. The return process was, however, marred by land conflicts, often leading to violence (IOM, 2012). Furthermore, there were problems with access to clean drinking water (Odokonyero, 2009).  

International organisations

Under the UN, some of the major organisations assisting Uganda are the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United National Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The UNDP provides capacity-building support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focussing on diaspora management and policy. The UNHCR leads and coordinates international action to protect refugees and solve refugee problems worldwide; in Uganda, its emphasis is on the protection of refugees. UNICEF focusses in Uganda on the migration of children from Karamoja to different urban areas, and helps families to keep their children in school (IOM, 2015). 

The East African Forum for Migrant Rights (EAFMR) is based in Uganda, which is an NGO that focusses on the rights of migrants in the country. It derives its mandate from the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (IOM, 2015). 

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Uganda focusses on migrant assistance, migration health, refugee resettlement, humanitarian assistance, labour migration and migration policy and research. It also assists in border management (IOM, 2015). 

Note on data 

“The measurement of migration in Uganda is characterized by the lack of regular statistics and weak management of administrative sources of data” (IOM, 2015, p.5). “Most administrative information is not available to the public or easily accessible to decision makers.” (IOM, 2015, p.70).

References

Akello, V. (2009, June 22). Uganda’s Progressive Refugee Act Becomes Operational. UNHCR. Retrieved from: https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2009/6/4a3f9e076/ugandas-progressive-refugee-act-becomes-operational.html 

CTDC (2019). CTDC Global dataset. Retrieved from: https://www.ctdatacollaborative.org/map

IDCM (2018a). Uganda. Retrieved from: http://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/uganda 

IDCM (2018b). Uganda: Global Report on Internal Displacement. Retrieved from: http://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/GRID%202018%20-%20Figure%20Analysis%20-%20UGANDA.pdf 

IOM (2012). Uganda: Need to focus on returnees and remaining IDP’s in transition to development. Retrieved from: http://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/201205-af-uganda-overview-en.pdf 

IOM (2014). Child Migration from Karamoja. Retrieved from: https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/karamoja_childmigration.pdf 

IOM (2015). Migration in Uganda: A Rapid Country Profile 2013. International Organisation for Migration. 

IOM (2018a). Migration Governance Snapshot: the Republic of Ghana. Migration Data Portal. Retrieved from: https://migrationdataportal.org/de/overviews/mgi/uganda#0 

IOM (2018b). Uganda 2018: Humanitarian Compendium. Retrieved from: https://humanitariancompendium.iom.int/appeals/uganda 

IOM (2019). 2018: Return and Reintegration Key Highlights. Retrieved from: https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/avrr_2018_kh.pdf 

Nagikanda, A. (2013). Factors explaining the reasons for internal migration in Uganda (Masters dissertation). Makerere University: Kampala, Uganda. 

Odokonyore, M. (2009, November 4). Water, water everywhere, but not all of it fit to drink for returnees in northern Uganda. UNHCR. Retrieved from: https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2009/11/4af1b6556/water-water-everywhere-fit-drink-returnees-northern-uganda.html 

UNDESA (2019). International Migrant Stock 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates19.asp 

UNICEF (2018). Child migration. Retrieved from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-migration-and-displacement/migration/ 

World Bank (2019). Personal Remittances – Uganda. Retrieved from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT?amp%3Bamp%3Bstart=2016&amp%3Bamp%3Bview=map&end=2016&locations=GH