• Rights activists fault Uganda-U.S. deal on accepting deportees, asking: “Are they refugees or prisoners?”
  • Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio: “We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency; in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States.”
  • Foreign Affairs office says talks with Washington are limited to, “visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues.”

Rights activists and leaders of the opposition in Uganda have trashed the agreement between President Kaguta Museveni and Donald Trump’s administration to accept thousands of deportees from the U.S., saying the deal is akin to perpetrating human trafficking.

According to Ugandan Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio, the deal between the U.S. and the East African country, which is still in the pipeline, doesn’t provide a clear status of the would be deportees. “Are they refugees or prisoners?” he asked.

“The proposed deal runs afoul of international law. We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency; in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States,” he added. “That I can keep your prisoners if you pay me; how is that different from human trafficking?”

Deal offers President Museveni legitimacy

In the same wavelength, President Museveni’s rival and lawmaker Muwada Nkunyingi has also criticized the deal, faulting Trump administration for what he termed as a spirited attempt at offering the government legitimacy ahead of the General Elections.

Instead, Nkunyingi called on authorities in Washington D.C. to double down on persistent reports of human rights abuses and runaway governance issues gripping President Museveni’s administration.

Nkunyingi warned that authorities in the East African country would likely embrace in haste an agreement that helps to “clear their image now that we are heading into the 2026 elections.”

On Wednesday, however, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem, countered the call by the opposition and activists, noting that his office was in talks with Washington on, “visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues.” Oryem was quick to note that a deal on deportees from the U.S. had not been sealed yet.

“We are talking about cartels: people who are unwanted in their own countries. How can we integrate them into local communities in Uganda?” the Foreign Affairs Minister stated.

Uganda ready to receive deportees without criminal records

Media reports show that Kampala is willing to open its country for deportees from the U.S. on condition that the affected individuals do not have any criminal records. Equally, the deportees should be unaccompanied minors, Oryem’s office explained.

Further, the Ministry expressed its wish that those ending up in Kampala should be people of African nations. At the moment, it is not clear what Uganda might be receiving in return of accepting deportees from the U.S.

The U.S. embassy in Kampala is yet to provide detailed information on what it recently said was ongoing “diplomatic negotiations,” between Kampala and Washington, instead saying diplomats aim to honor Trump’s “policy of keeping Americans safe.”

With an agreement to accept deported immigrants from the U.S. in the works, Uganda will be joining Rwanda and South Sudan as the countries in Africa that have accepted this deal.

“The agreement is in respect of Third Country Nationals who may not be granted asylum in the United States, but are reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin,” Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire stated on X. He termed the plan a “temporary arrangement,” adding “individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted.”

Rwanda, South Sudan already accepting deportees from U.S

The Trump administration has been seeking ways to deter migrants from entering the United States illegally and to deport those who already have done so, especially those with criminal records and including those who cannot easily be deported to their home country.

So far, Rwanda has announced it is ready to receive about 250 migrants. Further details on the nature of would be deportees remain unclear from both Kigali and Washington. At the same time Trump officials have entered into agreement with South Sudan to accept deportees. In July, Washington delivered eight deportees in Juba following a controversy that saw them stuck in Djibouti for weeks.

Since the start of his second term in office, President Trump has been on overdrive, arresting and deporting illegal immigrants from the U.S. often to countries where they did not originate from.

Read also: Nowhere to turn: Africans brace for mass deportations under Trump