Lessons from history: Addressing refugee-host community challenges in Uganda

According to the Global Humanitarian Overview (2026), Uganda hosts approximately two million refugees, more than any other African country, including over 1 million children.

The country’s progressive refugee policy, enshrined in the 2006 Refugee Act, grants refugees freedom of movement, the right to work, access to social amenities and agricultural land. For nearly two decades, this self-reliance model has drawn international praise as a benchmark for refugee management.

 That model is, however, under severe strain. Funding for the country’s refugee response plan stood at just 9 per cent for the first quarter of 2025, a 26 per cent drop from the same period in 2024. Food rations have been scaled down, driving hunger and fueling conflict between refugees and host communities.

In Kyaka II settlement in Kyegegwa district of Western Uganda, leaders report that diminished food rations have triggered theft, violence and restlessness among both populations. Environmental degradation, especially deforestation, is accelerating as 99 per cent of households in refugee settlements rely entirely on wood fuel.

This depletes forests and intensifies pressure on other natural resources such as wetlands. Land, already insufficient at 0.09 hectares per household, is continuously being fragmented as a consequence of the surge in the refugee population, more than tenfold since the enactment of the law.

These are not new challenges. They are recurring patterns that Uganda has endured before and from which clear precedents ought to be drawn.

Historical Lessons

Uganda’s refugee experience spans decades. Polish refugees were welcomed during World War II, the Rwandan Tutsis fled to Nakivale, established in 1958. The country ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention in 1976 and launched its Self-Reliance Strategy in 1999.

Each wave of arrivals piled pressure, leading to competition for land, public services, and orchestrated social tensions. What history teaches is that these pressures are predictable and therefore preventable when policy anticipates scale.

In Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Yumbe district, home to over 285,000 South Sudanese refugees, research identifies unmet host expectations over land, perceptions of unequal treatment, and resource competition as root causes of conflict.

In Nakivale, host community members express pride in Uganda’s hospitality but also deep concern about perceived policy inequities. These grievances are not born of xenophobia. They are structural. When host communities witness refugees receiving aid while they endure the same deprivation, resentment is inevitable because nationals don’t want to be more refugees than the refugees.

The Path Forward

Uganda’s history offers three clear directives.

First, integrate host communities into refugee response from the outset.

The 2006 Act was designed for 160,000 refugees. At nearly two million, piecemeal approaches no longer suffice. Policy must treat refugees and hosts as a single constituency, with joint livelihood programmes, shared infrastructure investments, and transparent resource allocation.

Second, the Office of the Prime Minister should move beyond humanitarian aid toward sustainable development.

Uganda has already begun this shift, embedding displacement into the National Development Plan III and the ReHoPE Strategy. However, visible implementation still lags. Donor dependency remains a critical vulnerability.

Long-term investments in education, health care, water, and energy infrastructure, benefiting both refugees and hosts, provide a more durable foundation than short-term relief and handouts.

Third, formalise land tenure and resource management. Customary land, which governs 75 to 84 per cent of parcels in refugee-hosting districts, lacks formal titles and clear rights. This ambiguity fuels disputes. A transparent land administration system, combined with environmental restoration programmes, can reduce conflict and build trust.

Conclusion

Uganda’s refugee policy is a source of national pride-and rightly so. But pride cannot shield us from reality. The model that worked for 160,000 refugees is breaking under the weight of two million beneficiaries now.

History reveals that when the pressures on host communities are marginalised, the very hospitality that defines host nations is undermined. The lessons are clear: integrate hosts into every plan, invest in sustainable development, not just aid, and secure the land and resources that are sustainable and inclusive.

The alternative-deepening division, environmental collapse, and social unrest is a future Uganda cannot afford. Lastly, Uganda received hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan in 2021. Where are they? 

The author is a candidate, PhD in History-Kyambogo University, teacher of history and political education, Mother Kevin College Mabira & St. Mary’s College Lugazi.

Email: kaboggozaj24@gmail.com

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