Ugandan opposition figures question deal to receive deportees from the US

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Opposition figures and others in Uganda on Tuesday criticized an agreement with the United States to receive deported migrants, questioning the lack of parliamentary approval and charging that the deal eases political pressure on the country’s authoritarian president.

After facing U.S. sanctions that have targeted many government officials, including the parliamentary speaker, Ugandan President Yoweri “Museveni will be happy” to transact with Washington, said Ibrahim Ssemujju, a lawmaker who is a prominent opposition figure. “He will be asking, ‘When are you bringing them?’”

Ugandan officials have released few details about the agreement, although said they preferred to receive deportees of African origin and didn’t want individuals with criminal records. However, the country is being put forward as a possible location for high-profile detainee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador native who has been charged with human smuggling.

Abrego Garcia, the subject of a protracted immigration saga, was detained on Monday by immigration officials in Baltimore, and the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Abrego Garcia “is being processed for removal to Uganda.”

Without parliamentary oversight, “the whole scheme stinks,” said Mathias Mpuuga, until recently the leader of the opposition in Uganda’s national assembly.

He said the agreement with the U.S. left him “a little perplexed” because Uganda is struggling to look after refugees fleeing violence in neighboring countries. He suggested the agreement makes sense only as a matter of “economic expediency” for the Ugandan government.

It remains unclear precisely what Ugandan authorities are getting in return for accepting deportees.

Uganda’s attorney-general, as well as the government ministers in charge of refugees and internal affairs, were not immediately available for comment. Okello Oryem, the deputy minister in charge of international relations, told the AP that such a deal was “complete rubbish” — the day before his permanent secretary confirmed an agreement was in place to accept individuals who are “reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin.”

Negotiators for the Ugandan side are believed to have been reporting directly to Museveni, an authoritarian leader who has been in power in the east African country since 1986.

For much of his time in power, Museveni was widely seen as a strong U.S. ally, especially for his support of counter-terrorism operations in Somalia when he deployed troops there to fight the al-Qaida-linked rebels of al-Shabab.

But his cachet in Washington declined in recent years. The Biden administration piled pressure over corruption, LGBTQ rights concerns and other rights abuses, with a growing list of Ugandan officials facing sanctions. In addition to Speaker Anita Among, a key ally of Museveni’s, Ugandan officials sanctioned by the U.S. include the current prisons chief, a former police chief, a former deputy army commander, and some former government ministers.

In 2023, reacting to U.S. sanctions against Ugandan officials that followed the enactment of a law against homosexuality, Museveni told a gathering of government officials that he had no wish to visit the U.S.

For Museveni, the deal with the U.S. to accept deportees is desirable “for political and perhaps economic reasons,” said Marlon Agaba, the head of a leading anti-corruption group in Uganda.

The deal eases pressure on Museveni and may come with trade opportunities, said Agaba, executive director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.

“The Trump administration is about deals, about deal-making, and any strongman would welcome that,” he said.

Ssemujju, the opposition lawmaker, said he believed “the matter should be handled by Parliament” and that the agreement is flawed without parliamentary authorization.

In July, the U.S. deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan. Rwanda has also said it will receive up to 250 migrants deported from the U.S.