Four months after civil war broke out in Sudan in April last year, widow Sofia Mohamed was forced to flee her hometown of Kosti with her three young children in tow. The family travelled to Renk, a town just over the border in South Sudan, where they were registered as refugees, before heading to the Ugandan capital of Kampala in September, after her brother-in-law advised it would be safer.
The family hoped to obtain documentation of their refugee status in Uganda. But in January 2024, the Ugandan government announced that Sudanese refugees would no longer be able to register as refugees while living in the capital and other urban towns around the country. All arrivals, including Mohamed and her children, must instead now live in refugee camps to obtain such documents – and stay in the camps thereafter.
The move is a drastic change of policy for Uganda, which has in recent years been praised for its progressive attitude on migration. Refugees previously had the right to work and move freely throughout the country, with access to health and education, under the 2006 Refugee Act and the 2010 Refugee Regulations. They were also given a small plot of land to cultivate, and food and financial support.
