UNHCR, APRIL 2023
REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION
Key informant interviews were also carried out with representatives of the Ministry for Emergency
Management (MINEMA), the National Commission for Human Rights, and the Directorate General for
Immigration and Emigration.
South Sudanese and Congolese refugees in Uganda
As of February 2022, Uganda was host to 1,595,405 refugees and asylum seekers 99 making it the country
with the third largest refugee population globally, according to UNHCR statistics. 100 They live in 13 refugee
settlements in addition to urban centres. More than 60 percent of these refugees are from South Sudan
and just over 30 percent from DRC. 101
Many of these refugees are relatively recent arrivals, but some have been resident in Uganda for many
decades. Of the Congolese refugees, just over 3,000 have lived in Uganda for over 20 years; among the
South Sudanese refugees, 5,015 had been living in Uganda for more than 20 years. In both cases, the
majority have lived in Uganda for over 40 years (or been born there), and some are the descendants of
people who arrived even before Ugandan independence.
The Uganda research effort targeted long-term refugees of DRC and South Sudan origin residing in
refugee settlements in the Southwest, West, Midwest, and Northwest regions of Uganda: Nakivale
(Isingiro), Kyaka II (Kyegegwa), Kyangwali (Hoima), Kiryandongo (Kiryandongo), and the Mungula and Oliji
(Adjumani) settlements. Surveys and focus groups were carried out in all these settlements; and focus
groups were carried out with all host communities except Kiryandongo.
The field survey focused on refugees that have lived in Uganda for 20 years and more in all settlements
except Nakivale, where the qualitative study accommodated refugees resident for 15 years or more. The
total qualifying number by that criterion was 7,238 individuals of which, the representative sample was
capped at 365 individuals. The sample was divided to represent the DRC caseload (sample size 136) and
the RSS caseload (sample size 229). It will be observed that the relevant data was aggregated from a total
of 414 refugees, thus the research team exceeded the target sample size of 365. The target size for
qualitative study was 1500 (300 refugees per hosting district) inclusive of the representative sample.
The team also conducted key informant interviews (KIIs) with officers and representatives of
organisations and institutions in academia (Makerere University, Faculty of Law), the government (Office
of the Prime Minister, and Justice and Law and Order Sector), Civil Registration Authorities (National
Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA)), UNHCR Field Operations, Relief Organisations (Oxfam,
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Refugee Law Project (RLP), Centre for Community Development &
Peaceful Co-existence (CECODEP), and legal professionals.
99
“Uganda Refugees and Asylum Seekers as of 31 st December 2021.” Government of Uganda: Office of the Prime
Minister – Department of Refugees (OPM).
100
See statistics reported at: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics (February 2022)
101
Uganda Comprehensive Refugee Response Portal, https://ugandarefugees.org/en/country/uga.
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