Refugees in Uganda
There is nothing as hard as living in a strange land. Having to forcefully leave behind all the friends and relatives into a new environment. Starting up a new and different life is something that is not easy to take on.
The hardships of living in refugee camps all alone with no one to rely on, but only you and yourself. Starting up new relationships in a new community, sometimes not even understanding the language spoken there. It is as hectic as digging a whole planted field. These are people who need to be picked up.
The strategic location of Uganda in Eastern Central Africa. And its just policies have made it one of the major refugee-hosting countries in Africa. With over 1,000,000 registered refugees making it rank 9th in the whole world. This simply implies that there is a lot of suffering refugees in Uganda. It is a poor country that cannot sustain even its natives.
Life in the refugee camps is utterly not easy, having to face poor sanitation conditions daily. Due to the increased number of refugees from both Congo and South Sudan; many refugee camps in Uganda today face a challenge of sanitation.
Till now, most of the homes in Uganda’s refugee camps lack or share latrine and bathing shelters. Which is a significant risk factor for cholera as it is a fecal-oral transmitted disease. These inadequate sanitation services are the major cause of communicable diseases. And epidemics that increased the death rates of refugees in Uganda.
There is increased insecurity creating a lot of fear of rebels attacking the refugee settlements in Uganda. Even if there is an increased number of agencies trying to initiate peacebuilding. And conflict resolution among refugee populations in Uganda; a lot more is needed to be done to curb the common distrust between the refugees. And the host communities over resources.
Water scarcity is another challenging factor in the refugee camps of Uganda. As the number of refugees increases, the supply of running water gets limited. And this is one of the hugest challenges that humanitarians in Uganda’s refuge settlements are facing.
Lack of education services in these camps. Reports indicate that approximately three-quarters of the million refugees or even more than half of them are children. Some are young as 11 who made the journeys alone, fleeing from their homes or villages trying to run away from insecurity and violence. And these children don’t have anywhere to go for education, yet they are also young kids entitled to education just like any other child in Uganda.
Cynthia Basinet said, “Displaced societies are of value their issues are our issues”. This is a strong statement, we are at a point where the whole world should be involved in handling the refugee crisis in Uganda.
Don’t just sit back and relax as other people are going through daily hell and something that wasn’t a result of their actions because no one leaves home unless it is a mouth of a shark. Some refugees might have migrated because of war, epidemics, or even natural disasters.
However, no matter the reason for their migration, we must all have a hand in resettling the refugees into new beautiful lives.
Take on volunteering in Uganda’s resettlement camps through non-government organizations that stretch a helping hand to these refugees and support lives. You can also choose to donate to them or sponsor some children refugees back to school. It’s high time we rose and changed the lives of the refugees living in Uganda.