By Charlotte Van Campenhout
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Netherlands and Uganda have agreed to cooperate on returning rejected asylum seekers via Uganda as a transit point, the Dutch government said in a statement on Thursday.
Dutch Migration and Foreign Affairs minister David van Weel and his Ugandan counterpart Odongo Jeje Abubakhar signed a letter of intent to this effect in New York, where they are attending the United Nations General Assembly.
The system would only apply to people from countries near Uganda who are required to leave the Netherlands but cannot be returned to their country directly or voluntarily within a reasonable time. They will be temporarily housed in Uganda before returning to their country.
The Netherlands and Uganda will refine the Letter of Intent, which will lead to a small-scale pilot transit hub for a limited number of rejected asylum seekers. The statement did not give a timeline.
“We are taking this step with Uganda to get migration under control. Obviously the human rights of people who return to their country of origin via Uganda will be safeguarded,” Van Weel said, adding that the Dutch government plans to consult closely with the EU and international bodies, such as the IOM and UNHCR.
Uganda’s foreign affairs ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.
In March, the European Commission proposed allowing member states to set up migrant centres in non-EU countries for those rejected for asylum.
The legality of the plan under Dutch and international law remains unclear. A similar UK-Rwanda deal faced legal setbacks and was ultimately scrapped without anyone being sent to Rwanda after a Labour government took office last year.
Migration will be a central issue in next month’s Dutch election, following the current caretaker government’s collapse in June over immigration policy disagreements.
In 2024, 32,175 asylum seekers entered the Netherlands, a 16% decline compared with 2023.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema from Kampala, Editing by Barbara Lewis)
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