Uganda announced it has reached a temporary deal with the United States to accept certain migrants deported under Washington’s “third country” deportation policy. According to a statement by Uganda’s Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, the agreement applies to individuals denied asylum in the U.S. who are either unwilling or unable to return to their countries of origin. The deal makes Uganda the latest country to participate in the deportation scheme, which has already sent people to Eswatini and South Sudan in recent weeks.

Terms Of The Agreement

The Ugandan government stated it would only accept deportees who do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors. Officials added that Uganda prefers to take in deportees from African states. The Foreign Ministry said details of the arrangement are still being worked out, though it stressed the agreement had already been concluded. It was not immediately clear how many people Uganda would receive or when the first transfers might occur.

U.S. Policy And Reactions In Uganda

The U.S. State Department declined to confirm details of the deal, saying only that it supports the president’s policy of removing individuals with no legal right to remain in the United States. Senior Ugandan Foreign Ministry official Henry Oryem Okello told the Associated Press that broader talks with Washington include issues of visas, tariffs, and sanctions. He questioned how Uganda could integrate people “unwanted in their own countries” into local communities.

The move reflects a broader Trump administration strategy of sending deportees to third countries, with recent transfers of migrants from China and Vietnam to Panama and Costa Rica.