KAMPALA, Uganda — A senior Ugandan official on Wednesday denied a U.S. media report that the country had agreed to accept individuals deported from the United States, stating that Uganda lacks the necessary facilities to accommodate them.
Citing internal U.S. government documents, CBS News had reported on Tuesday that Washington had struck deportation agreements with both Uganda and Honduras as part of its broader campaign to increase the expulsion of migrants to countries where they do not hold citizenship.
“To the best of my knowledge we have not reached such an agreement,” Okello Oryem, the state minister for foreign affairs, told Reuters via a text message. He added, “We do not have the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such illegal immigrants in Uganda.”
Reuters‘ requests for comment from the Honduran government on the report have not yet received a response.
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The administration of President Donald Trump aims to deport millions of immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally and has sought to increase removals to third countries, including by sending convicted criminals to nations like South Sudan and Eswatini.
The CBS report stated that the agreements with Uganda and Honduras were based on a provision of U.S. immigration law. This provision allows asylum-seekers to be rerouted to a third country if the U.S. government determines that those nations can fairly hear their claims.
Uganda, a U.S. ally in East Africa, already hosts nearly two million refugees and asylum-seekers, most of whom are from neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan.
