The Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Sam Engola, has announced plans to engage the Eritrean government over the increasing number of Eritrean nationals seeking asylum in Uganda, despite the absence of an active armed conflict in their country.

Speaking on Thursday during a familiarisation meeting with staff of the Department of Refugees under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Kampala, Engola said the government wants to understand the factors driving thousands of Eritreans to flee their country.

According to the minister, Uganda is currently hosting more than 74,000 refugees from Eritrea, with many of the recent arrivals being young people.

“We need to establish what is forcing these young people to leave their country and seek refuge in Uganda,” Engola said, adding that the matter requires direct engagement with the Eritrean authorities.

The minister, who recently assumed the disaster preparedness and refugee docket and also represents Erute South in Parliament, revealed that discussions with development partners had reinforced the need for Uganda to formally engage the Eritrean government to establish the root causes of the continued refugee influx.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister, Patrick Okello, warned that the refugee response is facing a severe funding crisis as the number of asylum seekers continues to grow.

Okello said the department required UGX 32 billion to effectively run its operations but received only UGX 23 billion in the current financial year, leaving a funding gap that has affected service delivery.

He noted that the budget shortfall has forced the department to scale down its workforce after it became unable to sustain salaries for some staff members.