One of the largest refugee-hosting nations in the world
Uganda map
Uganda is one of the largest refugee-hosting nations in the world,[1][2] with roughly 1.95 million refugees by October 2025.[3] The vast influx of refugees is due to several factors such as violence and war in Uganda's neighboring countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan,[4][5] and associated economic crises and political instability in the region. Uganda has relatively 'friendly' policies that provide rights to the refugees, such as rights to land, education, work, private property, healthcare and other basic social services.[6] Although its integration policy is widely praised, the country faces severe resource constraints, with chronic underfunding and the scale of arrivals placing pressure on services. Many refugees live with limited assistance and unstable livelihoods, and the influx also affects conditions in nearby host communities.[7]
Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa, a situation long tied to its historically open and rights-based refugee policy.[8] For decades,[7] welcoming and supporting refugees has been an explicit part of national policy,[9] and the country’s legal framework, established through the Refugee Act of 2006 and the Refugee Regulations of 2010, was regarded as one of the most progressive in the region.[10] Under this system, people from any country of origin could seek protection. Refugees were granted freedom of movement, cash or food rations, the right to work and access to public services. Families were also allocated a uniform plot size of 30 by 30 metres to each household in the settlement, without adjustment for household size, to support agricultural livelihoods.[11][12] Even during this comparatively favourable period, the assistance available was not adequate for many households, as the land allocation and basic support services did not fully meet the needs of larger families or those with limited capacity to cultivate their plots. As a result, many refugees, particularly women, had to depend on informal and often precarious ways of earning an income, leaving them vulnerable to violence and exploitation.[7]
Despite this progressive legal framework, the country lacked a unified national policy to guide its implementation,[13] and the system suffered from prolonged underfunding.[7] Developments in the 2020s revealed growing strain on the system.[13] As of April 2025, Uganda had received more than 443,000 new refugees since January 2022.[14] International aid declined sharply, including the 2025 freeze in US assistance under Donald Trump, with annual external support falling from about $240 million to only $18 million in 2025.[15][16] The arrival of large numbers of refugees, especially from South Sudan and Eritrea, contributed to rising rental costs in Kampala and surrounding areas. Reports also describe growing social tensions and economic pressure in host neighbourhoods and a call for more balanced approaches to housing and integration. Despite these pressures, public support for hosting refugees has remained strong. An IPSOS survey reported that 80 percent of Ugandans believed they benefited from the presence of refugees.[13]
In January 2024, the Ugandan government introduced restrictions requiring Sudanese asylum seekers to register only from designated refugee settlements rather than from Kampala or other urban centres. Under this policy, new arrivals must reside in the camps to obtain refugee documentation and are expected to remain there once registered.[17][7] In late 2025, Uganda halted the registration of new asylum seekers from Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia.[13][15] Officials motivated this decision by citing major funding shortages behind the policy change. Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and RefugeesHilary Onek stated that the concerned countries were not in war.[15] Other motivations given by government officials cited security concerns, pressure on public resources and, in the case of Eritrean applicants, efforts to curb trafficking and financial crime. They also warned that diminishing international support was placing the open door approach under pressure, with Onek arguing that the open door policy may need reassessment if external assistance continued to fall short.[13]
Refugee population
The number of refugees in Uganda rose sharply from just over 200,000 in 2012–2013 to more than 1.25 million by 2017,[18] and although the pace of increase later slowed, the total continued to grow steadily, reaching nearly 1.8 million by 2024.[19]
Almost 50% of refugees in Uganda are located in the Bidi Bidi, Pagirinya, and Rhino refugee settlement camps, located in the northwest region of the country.[22] Additionally, South Sudan accounts for 62% of refugees in Uganda, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for 29%.[22] Other refugee settlements in Uganda include KyakaII, Oruchinga, Kyangwali, Nakivale, Rwamwanja.[23]
Costs and funding
In 2017, Uganda was the largest refugee hosting country in Africa and the third largest in the world. This placed a huge burden on the country with a GDP per capita of about $773,[18] while the assistance provided per refugee was limited. In spite of this burden, funding remained scarce. By the end of 2023, Uganda’s refugee response remained significantly underfunded, with about 35% ($294 million) of the $846 million required under the Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan secured, leaving a funding gap of around 65%.[24] In 2024, Rising food and fuel prices, influenced in part by global shocks including Russia's war in Ukraine, further reduced the capacity of humanitarian agencies to meet basic needs.[7]
Reduction in funding
As of mid-2025, Uganda’s refugee response was under severe strain due to a sharp decline in international funding.[13] Cuts from major donors, including reductions linked to the suspension of USAID spending under U.S. President Trump, led to major losses in support. Officials said that UNHCR funding had dropped from $240 million to only $18 million for the year.[15][25] The broader refugee response remained heavily underfunded, with only about 22% ($212 million) of the $968 million required for 2025 secured by the third quarter.[26]
In 2025, funding was concentrated in certain priority sectors. Protection received the largest share, with about $45 million of the $223 million required, including activities related to gender-based violence and child protection. This was followed by livelihoods and resilience, which received roughly $39.5 million of a $165 million requirement. Health and nutrition received about $26 million out of $134 million needed, while food security was funded at approximately $22 million against a requirement of $163 million.[26]
As a result of these shortfalls, assistance levels were severely constrained. Food assistance fell below eight dollars per person per month and around 60% of refugees received no rations at all.[27][13]UNHCR’s per capita spending in Uganda dropped from $95 in 2015 to $36 in 2025.[4] The World Food Programme, already operating with limited resources, was no longer permitted to provide cash assistance in many situations, and its nutrition programmes could not keep up with rising needs.[13] Malnutrition levels in refugee reception centres have risen to critical thresholds, exceeding 15%.[28]
Health and education services began to decline quickly. Transit centres operated far beyond their intended capacity, with Nyakabande camp hosting six times the number of people it was designed for. Structured support remained minimal after transfer.[27][13] Large refugee settlements such as Nakivale and Adjumani were overwhelmed, with each hosting more than 200,000 refugees. Funding gaps made the situation unsustainable, forcing donors and UN agencies to abandon longer-term livelihood and self-reliance goals in favour of basic life-saving assistance.[13]
Costs per sector
The estimated annual cost to Uganda in 2017 for hosting refugees, broken down by sector:[18]
Sector
Value (US$)
Percentage distribution
Education
795,419
0.25
Health
5,201,026
1.61
Security
3,045,858
0.94
Land
29,746,209
9.21
Ecosystem loss
90,682,169
28.07
Energy and water
145,881,761
45.16
Other costs
2,406,814
0.75
Estimated tax exemption to UN agencies
45,254,125
14.01
Total
323,013,382
100.00
Refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A newly arrived child refugee from DRC collecting clean drinking water in Nyakabande transit camp, 2013
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a conflict history stretching back several decades, during which repeated outbreaks of violence have forced large numbers of people from their homes.[29]
By the end of 2019, there were over 900,000 Congolese refugees being hosted in various African countries, with over 40% currently in Uganda.[30] The region of the DR Congo bordering Uganda was the place of origin for the vast majority of Congolese refugees.[30] The massive influx of refugees was largely caused by the persistent violence and fighting that has dominated the DR Congo.[31] Many refugees entered Uganda through Lake Albert in DRC's Ituri province, which borders the northwest region of Uganda.[32] Of the 900,000 refugees, almost 3% were children traveling alone; almost 2% were women at risk; and 0.2% were fleeing sexual- or gender-based violence.[30]
The presence of refugees in Uganda has had a positive influence on the rates of consumption and access to private education in the communities that host them.[33] This is due to increased channels of commerce in areas where more refugees are present, and the policies enforced by non-governmental organizations that allow for private education providers to be more common in areas with higher refugee populations.
Refugees from South Sudan
According to the UNHCR, the number of registered South Sudanese refugees in Uganda has crossed the one million threshold as of Fall 2017.[34] As of January 2016, most were located at Adjumani, Arua, Kiryandongo and Kampala. Uganda opened four reception centres for South Sudanese refugees in 2014. They were located in Keri in Koboko district, Rhino in Arua, Dzaipi in Adjumani at the Uganda-South Sudan border near Nimule, and one at Entebbe Airport.[35] The Dzaipi settlement became overcrowded, as it had 25,000 people, and was only designed to hold 3,000 people.[36] In February 2016, The UN Children's fund reported that "The transit centres are at their limits. Nyumanzi Transit Center can accommodate 3,000 persons but can be stretched to 5,000 individuals in a worst case scenario while Maaji Settlement (Adjumani) can take another 10,000 refugees."[37] Refugees at the Kiryandongo settlement camp have taken up agriculture.[38] The Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in Northwestern Uganda became the largest refugee camp in the world with five zones in early 2017, with over 270,000 refugees.[39]Baratuku, established in 1991, has hosted successive waves of South Sudanese refugees since the Second Sudanese War. It continues to operate with, as of 2018, significant challenges in supplies and infrastructure.[40]
Since the start of the war in Sudan, Uganda had seen a steady rise in arrivals from Sudan. The number of new arrivals increased sharply during 2024, then decreased somewhat in 2025. By October 2025, more than 91,563 Sudanese refugees were officially registered in the country.[3]
The influx of Sudanese refugees placed new pressures on Uganda’s largely rural, land-based settlement system.[13] The refugee population had a wide range of educational backgrounds, from highly educated individuals to those with little or no formal schooling, reflecting the diverse groups displaced by the war.[3] Many of the new arrivals were not agricultural workers seeking land in rural settlements but urban professionals from Khartoum, Darfur and other cities, including teachers, lawyers, business owners and students. They chose to avoid rural settlements and moved directly to urban areas such as Kampala, Entebbe and Arua, where life was difficult. With no food aid, scarce employment opportunities and rising living costs, many urban refugees found themselves in a state of uncertainty, out of immediate danger, yet unable to establish stable livelihoods. The Office of the Prime Minister has discouraged expanding support for urban refugee initiatives out of concern that it could draw more refugees to cities, which has limited support for Sudanese refugees in Kampala.[13]
Reports and studies from 2002 onward have documented persistent sexual exploitation and abuse of refugees in Uganda, affecting mainly women and girls and, in some cases, boys. Abuse has been carried out by a range of actors, including aid workers, officials, community members, transport operators and other refugees. Investigations have also uncovered cases in which girls were drawn into prostitution through informal networks. Research consistently highlights that risks are present across multiple forms of assistance, particularly food and shelter distribution, and that weak reporting mechanisms, fear of retaliation and the normalization of violence often prevent survivors from coming forward. Women and girls in vulnerable situations, including unaccompanied adolescents, widows, single women and persons with specific needs, have been identified as especially at risk.[41][42][43] Underlying factors contributing to violence included poverty, substance abuse and discriminatory gender norms that normalised violence, including the use of physical punishment as “discipline”.[44]
COVID-19 and refugees
The novel strain of coronavirus, named COVID-19, first appeared in Wuhan, China, with the earliest case reported on November 17, 2019.[45] By January 13, 2020, the virus had spread from China to Thailand, marking the first case of COVID-19 outside of China.[46] On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially recognized the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic. By this time, the virus had spread to more than 114 countries and had taken the lives of over 4,000 people.[47] As of April 17, 2020, there are almost 2.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, 55 confirmed cases in Uganda, 4 confirmed cases in South Sudan, and 287 confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[48] As healthcare professionals and researchers continue to learn more about the virus, various groups have come to public attention as high risk groups. One such group is refugees.
Refugees and otherwise displaced populations are particularly vulnerable because of the conditions in which they live. For example, many refugees live in camps or settlements with incredibly high population density and limited access to basic services. Refugees in camps and settlements also encounter difficulties in accessing reliable and accurate information due to a variety of barriers. Further, refugees around the world heavily rely upon the aid of humanitarian groups, non-governmental organizations, and governments; due to the pandemic, these groups will be focusing their efforts and finances on the virus.[49]
In late March 2020, the Ugandan government announced that it would formally suspend the acceptance of refugees and asylum seekers into the country as the number of confirmed cases increased.[50] Many fear the death toll from COVID-19 in Uganda will increase exponentially should the virus be introduced to the many refugee settlements. In addition, representatives of the United Nations Refugee Agency worry that the conditions of refugee settlements may enable the spread of the virus, as access to water is limited, and current food rations have been cut.[51] Ugandan authorities have recently found it difficult to ensure that refugees are complying with the health and safety guidelines implemented by the government in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Musu Ecweru, Uganda's State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, explains that this lack of compliance may be due to the fact that many refugees come from countries where the governments are not trusted; as such, submitting to authority is unusual and difficult.[52]
Problems caused by refugees
Uganda, for all its hospitality, has struggled to handle the large inflow of refugees. These refugees come to the country needing medical care as many are sick or injured from their journey. This has placed a lot of pressure on health officials in the country. In Uganda, there is approximately one doctor to every 24,000 citizens, and one nurse per every 11,000.[53] This has presented challenges in caring for refugees. Initially, refugees used to be given some land to farm and take care of their families but because of the huge increase in the number of refugees, the country can not do it anymore making to difficult for refugees to feed themselves.[54] The presence of these refugees has not only made it because to provide land but water and shelter as well.[55] In part, the struggle for food by refugees has resulted from officials working these camps misusing the funds meant for the refugees to enrich themselves instead.[56] This has led to the investigation of some of these officials.
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