Uganda has agreed to host 2,000 Afghan refugees following a request from the United States, which was granted by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) lauded Uganda for its policy that saw the country take in refugees from Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban, IPM Media reported Saturday.
The Inter Parliamentary Union is a global organization of national parliaments and brings together 179 parliaments worldwide.
“IPU secretary general Martin Chungog asks the rest of the world to support Uganda in its effort to help with the refugee crisis in Afghanistan. He applauds Uganda for accepting to host the Afghan refugees,” Deputy Speaker Anita Among tweeted on Sept.18.
Chungong appreciated Uganda for embracing the refugees and urged the international community to support countries that have taken in refugees.
“I would like to call on the solidarity of the international community to reach out to countries that are resource-strapped such as Uganda that are taking up refugees to make sure they have the capacity to ensure the Afghans live in dignity,” he said.
Chungong was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament held in Vienna, Austria.
Last month, Uganda agreed to temporarily host 2,000 refugees from Afghanistan on request from the US.
However, only 51 refugees were evacuated to Uganda on Aug. 25.
The UN projects the number of Afghans seeking asylum may reach 500,000 by the end of year.
Uganda has an open-door policy for refugees and hosts the largest number of refugees on the continent, mainly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.