Kampala [Uganda], August 27 : Ugandans have criticised an agreement with United States President Donald Trump's administration to receive deportees from the US, questioning the absence of parliamentary approval and suggesting the deal is intended to ease political pressure on President Yoweri Museveni, Al Jazeera reported.
After facing sanctions from Washington that have targeted several government officials, including the parliamentary speaker, opposition lawmaker Ibrahim Ssemujju said, "Museveni will be happy" to transact with the US. "He will be asking, 'When are you bringing them?'" according to Al Jazeera.
Ugandan officials have released few details about the arrangement, but said they preferred deportees of African origin and would not accept individuals with criminal records. However, Uganda is being pushed as a deportation destination for high-profile detainee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and El Salvador native charged with human smuggling, Al Jazeera reported.
Abrego Garcia, who has lived in the US for years with his American wife and children, has been under protected legal status since a judge ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador because of safety concerns. He was detained in Baltimore and the US Department of Homeland Security said he "is being processed for removal to Uganda". His lawyers said he was severely beaten and psychologically tortured after being wrongly deported to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison earlier this year, due to what US Justice Department lawyers admitted was an "administrative error", Al Jazeera reported.
Criticism has also come from within Uganda's political establishment. "Without parliamentary oversight, the whole scheme stinks," said Mathias Mpuuga, until recently the leader of the opposition in Uganda's Parliament. He added that the deal left him "a little perplexed" given Uganda's existing struggles to host refugees from neighbouring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
Al Jazeera further reported that analysts believe Uganda's agreement with Washington is driven by "economic expediency" and a desire to secure trade opportunities. "For political and perhaps economic reasons," Museveni views the arrangement as beneficial, said Marlon Agaba, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda. "The Trump administration is about deals, about deal-making, and any strongman would welcome that."
Uganda's deputy foreign minister Okello Oryem dismissed reports of such a deal as "complete rubbish". But a day later, his permanent secretary confirmed that an agreement was in place to accept individuals "reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin", according to Al Jazeera.
Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for four decades, was once regarded as a strong US ally for his support of counterterrorism efforts in Somalia. But his standing in Washington has declined in recent years due to corruption, LGBTQ rights concerns and human rights abuses, Al Jazeera reported.
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