Uganda agrees deal with US to take deported migrants if they don't have criminal records

Uganda has agreed a deal with the United States to take in deported migrants on condition that the deportees don’t have criminal records and aren't unaccompanied minors, officials said on Thursday.

The Ugandan foreign affairs ministry in a statement said the "two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented."

Uganda also expressed a preference that those brought into the country should be nationals of African countries.

It was not clear if the agreement had been signed but the ministry statement said it had been "concluded."

International Relations Minister Henry Okello Oryem told the AP news agency that while Uganda is known globally for its benevolent refugee policy, there are limits.

And he questioned why the country would take people rejected by their own countries.

"We are talking about cartels: people who are unwanted in their own countries. How can we integrate them into local communities in Uganda?" he asked.

He said the government was in discussions about "visas, tariffs, sanctions, and related issues, not accepting illegal aliens from the US. That would be unfair to Ugandans."

In July, the US deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan.