Perhaps Uganda learned that having immigrants bring in skills and willingness to work is a good thing for the country as a whole. Before Amin, there were many Indians with business skills who came and helped develop the country. Many still remain. Donations directed to helping people get a foothold and start an independent life is a good use of funds.
Maybe we all could relearn the importance of allowing immigration and helping people who are wanting to make the effort to start something. It has worked over and over again in the US but we've forgotten this. We like to pretend that the class of people doing the work that we undervalue doesn't exist. An honest look at our economy and the recognition of the importance of "unseen" labor would be a good place to start.
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This sounds very progressive, but a subsistence society is nothing to brag about, nor can Uganda be compared to the United States.
Mr. Trump has latched onto refugees and built up xenophobia that always lurks in somewhere in the dark of America.
We don't need huge numbers of troops to "fight" migrants. We need to treat them humanely, help them get settled, especially in sparsely populated areas and welcome them. They are willing to do the jobs Americans don't want to do. Their children will become great citizens.
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This story ignores the glaring political strife and agenda of a President eager to diminish the influence of indegenous Ugandans(watering down) by providing free Ugandan land and resources. Where on earth do you think you can go in modern times and get free land? This doesn't exsist. Yoweri Museveni himself is a refugee from Rwanda with deep seated ethnicity issues regarding the majority Baganda of Uganda. Time will tell. But this won't end well.
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This article doesn't mention that Uganda also creates refugees. According to the UN, Uganda's meddling is largely responsible for prolonging the war in South Sudan in which nearly 400,000 have died and millions have been displaced.[1]
Uganda's dictator Yoweri Museveni, whose security forces have crippled at least two opposition politicians and killed many others, has received accolades and generous donor funding for allowing refugees into Uganda.[2]
But members of Museveni’s notoriously corrupt government have misused some of these funds, and placed the refugees on land Ugandans say has belonged to their families for generations.[3]
The US provides Museveni will nearly $1 billion in development assistance annually, including hundreds of millions in military assistance, partly in exchange for handling refugees. A better solution would be to stop propping Museveni up in the first place. Eastern Africa's refugees might then be able to stay home.
[1] VOA un-blames-uganda-kenya-fueling-south-sudan-conflict. 01/29/2018; Epstein. Dishonouring Uganda's refugees. Project Synicate. June 2017.
[2] mps-zaake-nambooze-how-we-were-beaten. The Observer (Kampala) October 3, 2017.
[3] they-exaggerated-figures-uganda-aid-officials-suspended-over-alleged-fraud. The Guardian. February 8, 2018; Uganda Radio Netowrk. opm-evicts-60000-from-kyangwali-refugee-settlement-land. September 2, 2013.
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The article's closing quotation reveals another factor influencing the Uganda people's welcoming of refugee neighbors--their generosity of spirit comes from the heart. As a very religious society, faith guides the way most Ugandans live. It does not surprise me one bit that people who know and accept the true meaning of the gospel message would live it out by welcoming neighbors in need. If only more of my fellow American Christians would truly accept that message of love, and welcome our neighbors in need from Central America.
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What is it about people with so much, wanting to share so little, and people with so little being willing to share so much?
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"Uganda is not doing this without help. About $200 million in humanitarian aid to the country this year will largely pay to feed and care for the refugees."
Those who agree with commenter Sam McFarland here that "the United States is shamed by Uganda's generosity" towards refugees might be interested to know that the NYT left out a key fact: most of the $200 million in humanitarian aid Uganda receives to feed and care for refugees comes from American taxpayers.
The United States long has been by far the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Uganda, & this remains the case even under the loathsome current administration (of which I'm no fan).
On October 17 of this year, in fact, the Trump administration announced the US is donating an additional $83 million to support refugees in Uganda. From the government press release:
"The U.S. government and the American people are demonstrating their continued support for the refugee response in Uganda with nearly $83 million in additional humanitarian assistance by the end of the U.S. fiscal year 2018."
Yes, we in the US have many reasons to be ashamed at the moment. But the fact that Uganda's generosity towards refugees is being bankrolled by us is not one of the them.
https://www.usaid.gov/uganda/press-releases/oct-17-2018-us-government-co...
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The Ugandan approach makes perfect sense as local problems can only be solved locally.
I just hope that this will be solution for the future of Africa and not migration to a place like Europe that mostly has solved its problems in the past.
I fully understand that going away might be the easier solution but had Europe done the same after WW2, Europe would not be as rich as it is today.
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The United States is shamed by Uganda's generosity. We should be welcoming many thousands more desperate refugees annually, including those making their way here now across Mexico.
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@Sam McFarland Are you willing to eliminate chain migration in order to allow in more refugees?
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@Glen No. We can allow both.
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Imagine the good that would result from American donations to support these amazing actions in Uganda!
Instead we have wealthy US doners give money to wealthy schools to put their names on the entrance!
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@Wilson Woods The UN has been investigating Uganda for months, and started to withhold money as the officials (government) was claiming far more refugees than actual. And seems they were keeping money for themselves. Refugee quoted in USA today: “We are not receiving enough food because some officials are eating money meant for refugees,” said Charles Lujang, a refugee representative at the camp. “They are using our name to enrich themselves. They should be arrested and jailed.”
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@Ma
I'm sure there is corruption from some Uganda individuals.
So now what?
Throw away a meaningful successful working program in perhaps the only country that is not banning refugees?
Check out the corruption by the Trump administratrion as detailed in today's NY Times!
It's seems so easy for people to deny that the weather has changed and that it is due to excessive polluting by humans. How about how easy it could be to realize that there is still a lot of unused land in the USA that could be the beginning of New Settlements for people seeking refuge, "the tried, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free".
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@rixax
I believe that "Old Settlements' are even better. The Midwest has thousands of small towns with empty houses, complete infrastructure and half the population of its capacity, with an aging population. This is something that could be handled by mayors, not even at the state level. My little hometown would benefit hugely by 100 refugees, joining the school system, training as nurses, landscapers, home aides......Just as Uganda says, "Go farm here," we could do the same. "Here's a visa: go there."
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@rixax 700,000 immigrants are waiting in line to come to the US legally from their countries. The wait is now 2 years. These are educated and skilled folks.
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