With more than a million displaced people having found safety within Uganda’s borders, the region’s most willing supporter of refugees is feeling the strain. But a recent UN-backed effort to raise money for the crisis overlooks the fact that Uganda's president instigated many of the conflicts from which the refugees have fled.
NEW YORK – When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Uganda earlier this month, his stated mission – to raise billions of dollars for the country’s growing refugee crisis – seemed a noble one. Conflicts in the region have driven more than a million people into Uganda, and the country is feeling the strain.
But what Guterres may not realize, or at least doesn’t publicly acknowledge, is that Uganda’s strongman president, Yoweri Museveni, has instigated or exacerbated many of the conflicts from which the refugees now living in his country have fled. Enlisting Museveni’s help to solve the refugee crisis is like hiring an arsonist to lead a fire brigade.
NEW YORK – When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Uganda earlier this month, his stated mission – to raise billions of dollars for the country’s growing refugee crisis – seemed a noble one. Conflicts in the region have driven more than a million people into Uganda, and the country is feeling the strain.
But what Guterres may not realize, or at least doesn’t publicly acknowledge, is that Uganda’s strongman president, Yoweri Museveni, has instigated or exacerbated many of the conflicts from which the refugees now living in his country have fled. Enlisting Museveni’s help to solve the refugee crisis is like hiring an arsonist to lead a fire brigade.