{"id":22707,"date":"2024-05-22T21:12:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T18:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=22707"},"modified":"2024-05-22T21:12:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T18:12:12","slug":"ugandas-open-door-policy-for-refugees-strained-by-arrivals-sudan-drc-and-s-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/22\/ugandas-open-door-policy-for-refugees-strained-by-arrivals-sudan-drc-and-s-sudan\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda’s Open-Door Policy for Refugees Strained by Arrivals: Sudan, DRC, and S. Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNHCR<\/strong>
\nUganda is welcoming increasing numbers of Sudanese arrivals \u2013 over 33,000 people, 19,000 of whom have arrived in Kampala since the start of 2024 \u2013 seeking safety from a war that has raged for more than a year.
\nMost Sudanese arrivals are from Khartoum, and many have a university-level education.
\nIncluding the Sudanese, on average 2,500 people arrive in Uganda every week, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, primarily driven by ongoing conflicts and climate-related challenges.
\nThe continuous influx of refugees is not making the headlines but combined with funding shortfalls, puts significant pressure on protection and assistance services provided to refugees and their host communities, risking Uganda\u2019s solid protection regime and refugee response model.
\nDue to funding gaps, the health sector \u2013 which serves both refugees and the surrounding host populations \u2013 has already been hard hit. Health centre staff numbers have had to be reduced and there are insufficient supplies to meet critical health needs.
\nAn outbreak of conjunctivitis (red eye disease) around the country has also impacted several refugee settlements. For example, 141 cases have been reported in Nakivale settlement and there are concerns it could get worse due to a shortage of water and soap, impacting hygiene. Mental health concerns persist. Four attempted suicides among refugees in Adjumani \u2013 two of them young people \u2013 have been reported in the past two weeks, highlighting the vulnerability of youth and the necessity for increased targeted interventions.
\nSchools are overcrowded and there are not enough teachers or educational materials, making it difficult for children \u2013 representing more than half of the total refugee population \u2013 to get an education.
\nCritical protection services are also being hampered. For example, refugee registration is facing lengthy delays as there is a lack of necessary materials and equipment to make the process smoother.
\nInvestments in supporting refugees with income-generating activities have had to be curtailed, with a ripple effect on efforts to make refugees less dependent on aid.
\nThis past week, UNHCR with senior Ugandan officials have visited key partners including the Governments of Denmark, Netherlands, and Belgium as well as EU institutions, to highlight the profound impact of reduced funding, and advocate for additional resources. UNHCR highlighted the importance of donor support in alleviating the plight of refugees and their host communities, emphasizing Uganda’s unwavering commitment to fulfil pledges toward greater socio-economic inclusion and self-reliance for refugees made at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum.
\nUganda hosts the highest number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Africa, with almost 1.7 million people mainly from South Sudan and the DRC, yet it was among UNHCR\u2019s 13 top underfunded operations globally in 2023. In 2024, the Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan (UCRRP) which is seeking $858 million for 96 partners to support over 1.67 million refugees and 2.7 million host community members, has received just 13 per cent of the required funds.
\nFor decades, Uganda has been at the forefront of assisting refugees and has been a beacon of stability in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNHCR Uganda is welcoming increasing numbers of Sudanese arrivals \u2013 over 33,000 people, 19,000 of whom have arrived in Kampala since the start of 2024 \u2013 seeking safety from a war that has raged for more than a year. Most Sudanese arrivals are from Khartoum, and many have a university-level education. Including the Sudanese, on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22712,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22707\/revisions\/22712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}