Some 48 asylum seekers, including children and teenage girls, are stranded in dire humanitarian conditions at the Elegu Refugee Reception Centre in Amuru District at the Uganda-South Sudan border. This comes as a result of a government directive suspending the admission of new asylum seekers through major border points over fears of Ebola disease that broke out in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last month.
The asylum seekers, comprising 16 Sudanese and 32 South Sudanese nationals, have since last week been confined under a mandatory 21-day quarantine at the busy Uganda-South Sudan border crossing. In a June 2nd, 2026, directive, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) halted the entry of new asylum seekers entering Uganda through 28 high-risk districts bordering DRC and South Sudan.
Although Amuru District was initially not among the listed districts, Uganda Radio Network has learned that a fresh directive was formally communicated to district authorities on June 12 ordering an immediate suspension of asylum admissions through the Elegu border point.
A joint monitoring report by Elegu Port Health and Medical Teams International (MTI) indicates that some of the asylum seekers had already spent between two and four days at the border before the fresh restrictions were enforced. Officials familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, described the humanitarian conditions at the centre as alarming.
According to a report dated June 15 seen by Uganda Radio Network, the asylum seekers are surviving mainly on biscuits provided by the World Food Programme, while only a few with money can afford hot meals for their families. Others according to the report hadn’t eaten for more than four days. The report further reveals severe shortages of clean drinking water, mattresses, mosquito nets, bathing materials and sanitary pads for adolescent girls.
Uganda Radio Network has learnt that out of the 48 asylum seekers at the reception center, 18 are girls aged nine years and above who urgently require sanitary pads and better protective care.
Pauline Irene Abina, the Refugee Desk Officer in Adjumani District in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) confirmed the presence of the asylum seekers at the Elegu Refugee Reception Center. According to Abina, authorities found themselves in a dilemma after the June 12 directive was implemented while the asylum seekers were already at the reception center awaiting processing.
She however said efforts were underway to mobilize food assistance and other support for the asylum seekers, although some responsibilities remain under the district authorities. “For food assistance and some other things, we are trying to see how to support them. But the issue of beddings, the issue of water, we know that they are in need of support, but I think we are doing our best.” Abina told URN on Tuesday.
Abina specifically explained that quarantine centers are ordinarily managed by district local governments through structures established by the Ministry of Health and district task forces, and not directly by the Office of the Prime Minister.
“The Office of the Prime Minister is not supposed to manage quarantine centers,” said Abina. “OPM and refugee partners only intervened because the affected individuals were asylum seekers who had already entered the country before the directive took effect.” However, the Amuru District LCV Chairperson Christopher Odongkara said the district’s hand is tight at the moment in supporting the asylum seekers since a directive was issued by the government prohibiting new admissions.
Geofrey Osborn Oceng, the Amuru Resident District Commission who also doubles as the district Ebola taskforce Chairperson has tasked the OPM to fulfill its mandates in providing food ratio to the assylum seekers who are currently sleeping hungry.
Uganda currently hosts over two million refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from South Sudan, the DRC and Sudan, making it Africa’s largest refugee-hosting country according to the latest data from the OPM and the UNHCR. According to the Ministry of Health, the country since May this year reported 19 confirmed cases of the Ebola Bundibugyo strain mostly from DRC, plus four Ugandan health workers who attended to the infected Congolese-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
