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Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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Figure 18: Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Uganda, by Age, Gender, and Country of Origin,
May 2016.
Source: UNHCR, “Statistical summary as of May 2016,
Most refugees live in settlements in Uganda; at the end of May 2016, only 14 percent were
recorded as living in Kampala, the nation’s capital, though this number excludes those who do
not register with local authorities.13 Many settle near the borders they originally crossed: for
example, most Congolese refugees live in settlements in western Uganda, while most South
Sudanese refugees live in settlements in northwestern Uganda, and most Burundian and
Tanzanian refugees live in settlements in southern Uganda.14 The exception to this are
Somalis, most of whom cross into Uganda from Kenya, and then re-apply for refugee status,
living in Nakivale settlement in southern Uganda or Kampala. In addition, Kampala hosts
refugees from all of the major national-origins groups in Uganda.15 At the end of May, 2016,
there were 74,896 refugees recorded as living in Kampala. However, these data may not
capture all those refugees who are “self-settled” (i.e. live outside the settlements with varying
degrees of contact with the authorities).
A small number of refugees are also resettled from Uganda each year. Between 2011 and May
2016, 9,182 refugees were resettled to third countries; almost all were either Congolese (59
percent) or Somali (36 percent).16 In 2015, 2,440 refugees—89 percent of whom were
Congolese, and 8 percent Somali—departed Uganda to be resettled in another country, while
13 OPM, “Uganda – Monthly Refugee Statistics Update [31st March 2016].”
14 UNHCR, “Uganda: Registered refugees and asylum-seekers, April 1, 2016,”
15 Gianluca Iazzolino, “A safe haven for Somalis in Uganda?” Rift Valley Institute Briefing Paper, August 2014,
and UNHCR, “Uganda: Registered refugees and asylum-
seekers, April 1, 2016.”
16 UNHCR, “Statistical summary as of May 2016,