Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the arrival of at least 51 refugees from Afghanistan following the takeover of Taliban that marked the end of the occupation of the Asian country by the US and its allies who had gone there as part of the fight against terrorism.
In just a matter of hours after the Talibans took over Kabul and other towns about 10 days ago, a refugee and humanitarian crisis unfolded. After the Talibans defeated the Americans and their allies, the US government led by elderly president Joe Biden asked countries to temporarily host refugees evacuated from Afghanistan.
President Biden has revealed that the evacuation of American troops and citizens via Kabul Airport would end by August 31 and that over 70,000 people had been evacuated from the Taliban controlled Afghanistan since August 14.
President Museveni’s Uganda is one of several nations around the world that agreed to host the evacuees, some of them being Afghan collaborators that had helped the US occupy Afghanistan for years.
After days of delay in the evacuation, a privately chartered aircraft carrying at least 51 refugees touched down at the Entebbe International Airport this morning. This figure is way below 500, which government ministers had earlier announced would make up each batch.
According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the batch of 51 evacuees that arrived today included men, women and children, and had undergone “the necessary security screening as well as the mandatory Covid19 testing and the required quarantine procedures.”
The Ministry further revealed that efforts to include Ugandans stranded in Afghanistan on the same flight had failed because these had experienced difficulties in making it to the Kabul Airport. “Whereas it had been arranged for some Ugandans to travel on the above flight, due to the challenges of accessing the airport in Kabul, they were unable to make it. Arrangements are being made to bring them in the subsequent flight,” added the ministry.(For comments on this story, call, text or whatsapp us on 0705579994, 0779411734, 0200900416 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).