An audit of refugee numbers in Uganda has revealed that there are 300,000 ghost refugees.
The
joint investigation by the government and the United Nations refugee
agency, UNHCR, showed that Uganda hosts only 1.1 million refugees.
The probe followed allegations that officials were defrauding donors by inflating refugee numbers and diverting food aid.
“In
total, close to 1.1 million refugees were verified and biometrically
enrolled from the target population of 1.4 million refugees,” reads the
joint statement from the Office of the Prime Minister, the UNHCR, and
World Food Programme.
“This represents 75 per cent of
the population that had sought asylum in Uganda prior to the
verification start date in March 2018. An additional number of cases were closed upon verification due to death or spontaneous return to their countries of origin.”
“More
detailed results, analysis and updated population figures of
asylum-seekers and refugees in Uganda will be made available soon,” the
statement added.
Uganda hosts refugees who fled war majority of whom are from
neighbouring South Sudan and some from Burundi and Democratic Republic
of Congo.
New rules
The
verification exercise, which started in March, was concluded on
Wednesday, October 24, and included Bidibidi and Kampala refugee centres
that had not been previously covered.
The aid agencies
have also rolled out new food assistance collection procedures in
effort to curb fraud and diversion of the food and relief items.
Each aid recipient will have their biometric data confirmed in the database.
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