Uganda’s ‘open door’ refugee policy and the socio-economic realities of the country’s refugee youth

• In Event: Refugee trajectories, mobility, aspirations, and political constraints

Proposal

Background of the Problem We are Addressing:

Uganda today hosts refugees from over 30 countries, the most of any country in Africa, and globally it is only behind Turkey and Pakistan. In 2023, the number of refugees in Uganda was 1,615,162, another increase (119,474) from the previous year, which forms about 32% of the 5 million refugees in the Horn of Africa region (UNHCR, 2023). The continuous expansion of the refugee numbers has been driven primarily by recent conflicts in the nearby countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan, and by increased migration from Burundi, Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. The Government of Uganda has kept the country’s borders open, despite the increased pressure the refugee population numbers have caused on services, including education. The refugees are largely settled in rural areas with little or no services.

With over 60% of Uganda’s refugees under the age of 18, education is the most pressing, critical need. While many youth of tertiary education age dream of accessing quality formal higher education, their displacement has only increased the precarious situation they are in. The 2023 UNHCR country report reflects that only 663 refugees accessed scholarships for higher education: a veritable drop in the ocean and indicative of a very serious gap. This chasm is further exacerbated by the fact that only 62 refugees from Uganda were resettled in third countries through educational opportunities, making up any kind of durable solution. Although some refugees are likely to self-sponsor their higher education, their numbers are generally low. These challenges are compounded by serious underfunding that refugee interventions in the country have experienced (UNHCR, 2023). These have all combined to create a lack of access to higher education for refugee youth, which not only shatters their life-chances but also affects Uganda more broadly in negative economic and societal terms. Furthermore, periods of exile have only increased through the protracted nature of conflicts that first drive refugees from their home countries. With most of the conflicts becoming protracted, the futures of many refugee youths are increasingly hanging in very precarious balance. This is detrimental for their lives, but also for the lives of affected countries. These challenges further increase the urgency and need for quality higher education and employment opportunities.

Uganda’s refugee policies have shown “significant continuity … [amidst] the politics that underlie them… [reflecting] liberal policies … [even] from illiberal politics” in the country’s history (Betts, 2021). This led the UN’s Antonio Guterres to recognize Uganda as “a symbol of integrity of the refugee protection regime…,” during the Solidarity Summit on Refugees in Kampala in June 2017 (UNIFEED, 2017). Over time, the country has enacted several favourably leaning refugee policies and acceded to important global and regional refugee regimes like the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Refugee Convention, and the Djibouti Declaration on Education for Refugees, Returnees and Host Communities. The constellation of policies, now referred to commonly as the “Uganda Model” encompasses a policy framework that, in principle, reflects: (1) openness to all asylum seekers irrespective of their nationality or ethnic affiliation, (2) grants refugees relative freedom of movement and the right to seek employment, (3) provides asylum, rights and protection for refugees, and (4) aids self-reliance by giving a piece of land to each refugee household for their own exclusive (agricultural) use (Refugees Regulations, 2010; World Bank, 2016).

The Situation Our Research is Addressing:
Refugees in Uganda are, ‘de jure’, allowed “to work, to establish businesses, to access public services such as education, to move freely and have access to a plot of land” (Clements, Shoffner, & Zamore, 2016). While Uganda has been lauded for such a progressive, ‘open door’ refugee policy, how this translates into refugee youth access to higher education and employment has remained a vexing policy challenge. We need a better understanding between Uganda’s refugee policy and its policies for higher education and refugee employment. We need more rigorous analysis to understand the critical gaps that inhibit Uganda from more successfully addressing the invisibility and vulnerability refugee youth face. We also need to be asking additionally: What are the consequences of entrenched socio-economic status that chronically thwarts Uganda’s efforts to find durable solutions? Addressing these gaps requires a critical re-examination of the internal policies and programs of the country, while also scanning the global landscape for practical solutions.

Our Intended CIES Presentation:
This presentation, based on our academic paper currently under review, examines how the policies and program initiatives led by the United Nations and other global actors have influenced the national education policies and programs. UNESCO (2025) has outlined some ways that rapid transformations in technology, globalization, climate change, and other socio-economic dynamics have impacted educational practices. Indeed, these changes have shaped much of the demand for new knowledge and skills. UNESCO’s 2022 Global Report noted the critical educational gaps still faced by youths and adults, despite SDG 2030’s Goal 4 commitment to “inclusive and equitable quality education and … lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO, 2025).

Seeing the long road that lies ahead for Uganda, we have much to do, broken down into specific challenges. 1) It is imperative that research uncover meaningful solutions that can better address the country’s refugee youth needs. 2) It is important to inquire how the policies and interventions in Uganda have incorporated the array of challenges, as well as the opportunities created by this interplay of technological transformations, globalization, climate change and the resulting socio-economic dynamics to inform the countries educational practices in the face of demands created by the presence of these refugee youths. 3) It is imperative to examine the extent to which these policies and interventions have proved inclusive for the refugee youths. Only by addressing these challenges can the life chances for Uganda’s refugee youth improve, and opportunities for lifelong learning for all of the African society become their lived reality.

Authors

• PASCAL PAX ANDEBO, University of Maryland College of Education

• Bernhard T Streitwieser, George Washington University