Monthly Trend of Asylum Seekers
- During the reporting period, a total of 1,670 new asylum seekers were registered at the Refugee Desk in Kampala including 901 Somalis, 614 Eritreans and 54 Burundians, which indicated continuous onward trend compared to the previous month.
- The number of asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was continuously rising in south west of the country, while that of in mid-west declined. The main reasons of flight included ongoing tension and violence in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces.
- More than 1,000 new asylum seekers from South Sudan, largely women and children, were reported because of reasons such as lack of access to livelihood and basic services as well as inter-clan fights between Nuer and Dinka.
- Continuous influx of Burundian asylum seekers was recorded in Nakivale settlement owing to continuous threats and arrests linked to refusal to vote and voting against the May 2018 referendum.
Status Determination
- The Refugee Eligibility Committee (REC), during the session of 9 - 13 October in Rwamwanja settlement, adjudicated asylum claims of 332 HH/ 768 individuals largely from the DRC. A total of 315 HH/741 individuals was granted refugee status.
- The REC, during the sessions of 15-19 October and 29 October -2 November in Jinja, granted 1,188 out of 1,416 applications for refugee status, the majority of which were Congolese and Somalis.
- The Refugee Appeals Board (RAB), during the session of 23 - 25 October, reviewed 18 appeal cases involving 36 individuals, the majority of which were Eritreans. The RAB set aside 4 REC decisions, confirmed 8 REC decisions and decided to hold a hearing of 6 cases.
Capacity Development
- UNHCR Senior Regional Protection Officer (RSD) attended the REC session during 15-19 October, where he provided advisory comments on individual applications as well as technical guidance on various topics including well-founded fear analysis, credibility assessment, updated country of origin information about Eritrea, concept of fair and efficient RSD, and case processing methodology.