VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKM #0297/01 0511142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201142Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8278
INFO RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0936
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0902

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000297 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM/AFR, GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREF EAID PINS UG
SUBJECT:  UGANDA: Parliamentarians Concerned about Immigrants 
Encroaching on Ugandan Rights 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  On February 16, 2007, RefCoord met 
with parliamentarians Stephen Mukitale and Beatrice Mpairwe 
of Bulisa district, which borders the Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC).  RefCoord asked for the meeting to 
determine how IDP and refugee settlements impacted the 
local economy.  However, the legislators quickly agreed 
that neither IDPs nor encamped refugees presented a problem 
for the district.  They argued that their district, which 
borders on the DRC and Lake Albert, was the home of an 
overwhelming number of Congolese nationals living outside 
the refugee camps.  The presence of Congolese, long 
tolerated, has now inspired a peaceful, but heated land 
dispute between local fisherman and undocumented aliens. 
The parliamentarians want to change the refugee or 
immigration laws to deal with the immigrants.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Stephan Mukitale and Beatrice Mpairwe represent 
the new district of Bulisa in Uganda.  The two 
parliamentarians are new to legislative politics.  However, 
they are enthusiastic representatives for their new 
district.  DRCongo, Lake Albert, two national parks, and 
Acholiland hem in Bulisa.  Land is in short supply and 
conflict surrounds the new district.  Mpairwe and Mukitale 
blame the national refugee law for their troubles and they 
mean to change the way the law views immigrants and 
refugees. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  According to the two parliamentarians, Uganda 
has historically been too open to "refugees."  Neighbors 
move freely over the borders, and the government is slow to 
direct these people to designated refugee sites.  They 
complained that the international community--specifically 
UNHCR--refuses to step in to take change of these arrivals. 
When RefCoord asked if these arrivals were actually 
refugees, or immigrants, the parliamentarians were visibly 
annoyed. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The legislators complained that what they called 
refugees from Congo have been historically crossing the 
border with Uganda since the early days of Congo's 
independence.  Each military or economic upheaval in the 
region has brought with it large numbers of Congolese 
immigrants to Uganda.  Both legislators acknowledged that 
the immigrants were not de jure refugees.  However, 
Mukitale stressed that the immigrants came to Uganda to 
escape persecution, and remained without any legal status. 
Now, Mukitale claims, as many as 45 percent of the 
district's population trace their origins to Congo. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Refugees or not, these immigrants put a strain 
on local resources, according to the parliamentarians.  The 
foreign-born arrivals compete with locals for access to 
fishing and land rights.  Those who have been in Uganda 
since the 1950's lay claim to full rights of citizenship, 
MP Mpairwe claimed, with out the benefit of applying for 
those rights.  Peaceful but heated land disputes have 
arisen between Congolese and Ugandans.  Land ownership in 
Bulisa is based on communally held, clan rights that are 
often undocumented.  According to the parliamentarians, 
ethnic Congolese have made formal claims to lands with the 
government.  Locals accuse national authorities of favoring 
these new arrivals, who use corruption and influence 
peddling to secure rights to which they have no legal 
claim. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Livelihood issues have also caused friction in 
the district.  Ethnic Rwandans, expelled from neighboring 
countries, wandered across the border from Congo with 
livestock.  These herdsmen settled on traditional farming 
land.  Congolese fishermen settled on the Ugandan shores of 
Lake Albert, and compete with locals for the depleting 
resources of the Lake.  The Congolese refuse to adhere to 
national restrictions on size or volume of the catch, over 
fishing the lake. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The national parks limit access to arable land. 
In the 14 years since 1994, Congolese, especially those 
related to the Hutus of Rwanda, came over the border in 
increasing numbers.  Those who have been in Uganda since 
the 1950's help the new arrivals settle in and maintain a 
sense of community that increases their economic and 
political power in contrast to the traditional fishing 
tribes of Uganda. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) To offset this relative strength of the 
immigrants, the parliamentarians see two choices:  1) the 
GoU should term all ethnic Congolese and Rwandans who 
 
arrived in Uganda after 1994 as refugees and move them, by 
force, to refugee settlements; 2) UNHCR should begin a 
program to assist the district as a refugee impacted area. 
The legislators plan to propose some form of legislation 
that would address the legal status of recent undocumented 
immigrants.  They say that other districts have similar 
problems and might support some change in either the 
immigration law or refugee law to secure the rights of 
Uganda citizens. 
BROWNING