The Effectiveness Of The Law On Refugees In Uganda: A Case Study Of Congolese Refugees

ABSTRACT

We have seen for a very long time how Uganda as a country has been flooded by refugees from

all over the world however the greatest inflow of refugees was from the Congolese people after

the first and second Congo war which caused a whole lot of them to migrate from their country

se!"king for shelter and safety in the neighbming countries, Uganda however welcomed many of

those and along the years they became petmanent residents waiting for the Congo war to

subsidize and eventually t'eturn to their country.

However it should be noted that much as they are refugees in a foreign country they are entitled

to particular rights according to intemational instmments and domestic laws governing that

particular country. This research paper looks at how the law both domestic and intemational has

been effective enough to these Congolese refugees living in Uganda. The paper centers on the

problems that have been faced by the refugees and how the law has come in to ensure that the

refugees get adequate and maximum security while living in a foreign country, it also looks at

the l:Jopholes that are in the law itself in administering justice to these refugees.

The paper futiher looks at the some recommendations that these intemational and domestic

instruments or, the countries implementing such laws in their govemance ought to look at in

order to see to the effectiveness of the law on refugees living in Uganda, and probably those

undergoing a similar scenario in other countries.

Fmihennore the research is centered on how the refugees are handling the pressure of leaving in

a foreign country, more so how life is like living in the camps, and how the governunent of Uganda has come out to ensure that the conditions under which they are living are good.