Uganda’s ghost refugees

El Khidir Daloum, the WFP Country Director told The Independent on Nov. 2 that WFP advocated for biometric verification of all refugees in Uganda for a long time because the system ensures that the right people receive the assistance they need.

“We worked closely with refugees, the government and UNHCR on the exercise. Together with UNHCR, WFP set up 72 centres where the verification and biometric registration exercise took place.”

“As each refugee received a new ration card and confirmation that they are biometrically verified, WFP provided food or cash using an iris scan or 10 finger prints recognition.”

Thijs van Laer, the programme director for prevention and resolution of exile at the International Refugee Rights Initiative also told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that he hoped that the verification exercise can be the basis of a more honest discussion about the number of refugees in Uganda and about what should be done to ensure accountable and sufficient funding.

“Now that there is more clarity, donors should step up their funding, to ensure that Uganda’s progressive refugee policy is fully-translated into practice,” he said.

“[But] at the same time, the Ugandan government should continue to show that it is willing to improve accountability for the funding it receives. In the end, it is the refugees who suffer the negative consequences of any allegations of corruption and funding cuts.”

Susan Eckey, the Norwegian Ambassador to Uganda also told The Independent that she was happy that the “wrongdoings are being addressed.”

“This is very important for the credibility of the refugee response in Uganda and international support for it,” she said.

“In terms of the verification exercise, we believe that the process has been good. It is now possible to move forward and concentrate on the many challenges ahead. Norway continues to support the refugee response in Uganda.”

Even refugees like Pecos Musikami, a Congolese who has been living in Uganda for over 25 years and now heads the Foundation of People for Peace and Defence of Human Rights; a Kampala-based refugee-founded non-profit working in the Great Lakes region, are hopeful. He told The Independent that with credible refugee numbers now available, he hopes resources will now go to the rightful beneficiaries.

“The ghost refugees were not only in numbers, they were maintained because they had to be used to divert resources which were supposed to go to the real refugees,” he said, “We also hope that from now onwards, the urban-based refugees who are not entitled to any humanitarian assistance will at least get some form of assistance.”

But Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda told The Independent that the issue of ghost refugees is a systemic issue which unfortunately the government has over the years failed to address.

“The problem of non-existent people has been going on for far too long in government ministries, departments and agencies and yet all what the government does is come up with rhetoric which does not cure the problem once and for all.”

Going forward, Kagaba told The Independent that the government should enforce the recommendations of the verification exercise if it wants to regain its image as a world model when it comes to refugee response.