Among the refugees is a family of an 80-year-old Tedros Kahsai, an Eritrean who acknowledged the peace and love granted to the refugees in Uganda.
International journalism scholars, journalists and journalism students have praised Uganda’s refugee policy, citing its generosity and openness. The country’s approach grants refugees complete freedom of movement and the right to work, making it a leading host nation in Africa.
A renowned Nigerian communication scholar, Prof. Ralph Afolabi Akinfeleye, the former head of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos in Nigeria said that due to its openness and generosity to the refugees, Uganda is one of the leading refugee host countries in Africa.
Alicia Van Den Boom, the head of development cooperation at the Germany Embassy noted that unlike any other African country, Uganda hosts close to two million refugees. Therefore, Alicia advocated for the importance of migration reporting using new social media technologies.
They had attended a five-day third and final conference on communicating migration and mobility E-Learning reporting in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The conference held at Uganda Christian University (UCU) drew participants from sixteen African and European universities attached to the 3-year-old network for empowering African journalism through education from a project known as Communicating Migration and Mobility E-Learning Programmes and Newsroom Applications for Sub-Saharan Africa (COMMPASS).
The Dean of the School of Journalism at UCU, Prof. Monica Chibita said that the COMMPASS project has over the period undertaken digital training for journalists on better ways of reporting on migration and mobility with the goal of enabling African journalists and journalism students to report on migration and mobility with accuracy, ethics and impact.
As one of the closing activities, the team visited an Urban Refugee center located at Bunga, in the suburbs of Kampala, where they interacted with a number of refugees.
Among the refugees is a family of an 80-year-old Tedros Kahsai, an Eritrean who acknowledged the peace and love granted to the refugees in Uganda.
“Uganda is a beacon of peace, a haven for refugees like myself and my family. I have been to other African countries, but nowhere I can compare to the warmth and dignity I have received here. President Museveni, you are a blessing to our nation, may God grant you longevity and continued leadership,” Kahsai said.
Kisanet Tedros, an Eritrean national, and a daughter to Kahsai said that she is blessed to be with all her parents (mother and father), brother, husband, children and nieces.
She narrated how six years ago, she joined hands with her brother to set up a project geared at helping refugees sustain their cultures of their countries of origin, while at the same time observing cultures of the host country.
Tedros said they have developed over 1,300 videos in their mother language which they upload on YouTube and to date, they have attracted more than one million views from across the world.
“I also went ahead to write and publish so far two e-books which are shared by viewers and readers at a cost from my website, thus using those avenues as a means of earning some money which help us survive,” she said.
Prof. Chibita said that due to Uganda’s flexible refugee policy, migrants who come in with skills find life better because they are given a leeway to work, move from place to place and earn a living.
“I acknowledge the government for what it is already doing for the refugees through the Office of the Prime Minister with the support of partners. What now should be done is for the government to fulfill its pledges as far as making the refugees’ lives better in Uganda,” she said.
She added that refugees should however be given the opportunity to tell what their challenges are before forging solutions because sometimes, people just come up with the would-be solutions before listening to their challenges.
Anthony Kizza who is a student of journalism and communication from Makerere University who is also a student of COMMPASS course said that unknown to most Ugandans, refugees in Uganda once registered more so those in urban areas have liberty to move in any part of the country and they also have a right to do any economic activity which can enable them earn a living and avoid them from surviving on handouts.
Monica Kirungi, an assistant officer with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which implements Early Childhood Development programs with the host and refugee communities in Kyaka Refugee Settlement said that unlike the urban refugees she met in Kampala, the ones in rural areas lack sensitization on a number of skilling activities which can help them gain financial independence.
The project code-named Communicating Migration And Mobility, E-Learning Programs And Newsroom Applications for Sub-Saharan Africa (COMMPASS) which has been running since 2023 focuses on migration and mobility as one of the key priorities of the African Union’s overall strategies.
It conceptualizes and implements an e-learning curriculum on migration and mobility for sub-Saharan Africa higher education institutions and will support digital transformation, strengthen journalism training capacity to improve the quality of information and public discourse on migration.
The team took time off and visited the Vision Group to internalize activities undertaken in information collection, sieving and dissemination, and advocate for more space given to migration related stories.
They were guided by Dr. Michael Leroy, the academic manager COMMPASS-Research, Dortmund University and UCU’s Prof. Monica Chibita.
New Vision’s Editor in Chief, Barbara Kaija said that Vision Group always gives space for the migration stories including feature profiling a number of refugee settlement camps and activities done there.