UN says ‘saddened and alarmed’ after at least 10 refugees killed in Uganda
The United Nations refugee agency says it is “saddened and alarmed” after at least 10 refugees were killed in an attack last week by local residents in northern Uganda amid tensions over increasingly scarce resources.
At least 19 others were injured in the dispute, including a member of the host community in the Rhino refugee settlement. Fifteen refugee houses were destroyed and another 26 were looted and vandalized, the UN agency said in a statement.
Ten refugees remain missing, the statement said, calling on local authorities to “search for them immediately.” It said the agency is working with authorities to investigate the incident and “clarify the circumstances, including the role of local authorities.”
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
A police spokesman didn’t immediately comment.
Sporadic violence has been reported over the years in settlements hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring South Sudan, including clashes between members of ethnic groups.
But the violence is rarely deadly.
Although Uganda has been praised for keeping its door open to refugees, authorities warn of the strain on local resources and some have said the international community is not offering enough support.
The East African nation now hosts more than 1.4 million refugees, most from South Sudan. Refugees are normally given plots of land in efforts to integrate them into host communities.
But tensions have grown amid funding shortfalls that forced the World Food Program to cut food rations or cash transfers by 30 percent in April. The agency said in August that the coronavirus pandemic had stretched its resources, warning that it “will be forced to cut deeper in the coming months” unless additional cash is received.
Read more:
Massive fires leave thousands in Greek refugee camp homeless
Coronavirus: UN detects COVID-19 cases in Syrian refugee camp in Jordan
Germany plans to take in around 1,500 migrants from Greek Islands
“The disproportionate violent reaction by the host community to a communal dispute signals a threat to the delicate balance of peaceful coexistence in the rural villages where refugees live alongside their Ugandan hosts,” said Joel Boutroue, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative in Uganda.
The latest violent incident is “alarming,” he said, because refugees as well as host communities “face increased hardships and decreased access to basic services and livelihoods.”
-
Nearly 70 refugees still unaccounted for, 13 dead after Beirut port explosion
Nearly 70 refugees are still not reachable or are confirmed as missing 10 days after the deadly explosion at the Port of Beirut, according to a report ... Middle East -
Lebanon's Gebran Bassil warns Macron of refugees 'your way' if Lebanon collapses
The head of Lebanon’s largest Christian party and son-in-law of the president, Gebran Bassil, warned French President Emmanuel Macron that millions of ... Middle East -
Watch: Hunger rises for Syrian refugees in Lebanon
In Nabil al-Saeed’s refrigerator – which is not working because there is no electricity – there is a plate of leftover zucchini and tomato stew his ... Features -
Refugees to southern Europe if Turkish interference in Libya is not stopped: Lahweej
The international community, “specifically the Europeans,” must act to put an end to the Turkish involvement in Libya, the foreign minister of Libya’s ... North Africa