IRC Uganda Country Director, Elijah Okeyo said:

“The IRC is proud to be complementing the efforts of the Government of Uganda and US embassy to receive and support 51 Afghan evacuees that arrived in Uganda at 7.53am this morning. The IRC will be supporting the Afghan evacuees with reception, accomodation, health care and general welfare services during their temporary stay in Uganda.“

“Uganda has a long history and tradition of welcoming refugees from all over the world and is one of the world’s largest refugee hosting countries, with 1.5 million refugees mainly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The evacuees from Afghanistan will stay temporarily in Uganda whilst in transit whilst applying for asylum to countries of resettlement such as the US. The IRC has been supporting refugees and displaced people in Uganda since 1998. “

The IRC now calls on the US and UK  to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of at-risk persons by rapidly scaling up the protection pathways they have announced and ensure there aren’t gaps in programming that leave people behind. There are many Afghans who urgently need their cases processed and Afghans who are eligible for the P2 program who may not be able to travel to a third country or wait months to years for a program to be scaled up. Bureaucratic delays and narrow eligibility cannot be cause for people to be left at risk.