John Mulimba, state minister for regional cooperation, cautioned against publishing images of Afghan evacuees in the country, citing security concerns.
The State Minister for Regional cooperation John Mulimba has cautioned against publishing images of the Afghan evacuees hosted in the country saying that the action can pose a security threat.
Of the 2,000 Afghan refugees expected in the country, Uganda on Wednesday welcomed the first batch of evacuees as the United States rushes to airlift thousands of people out of the country ahead of a self-imposed deadline to depart Afghanistan by August 31.
The group of 51 evacuees that came aboard a privately chartered flight landed at Entebbe International Airport at 6 am was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and their counterparts from the US Embassy in Uganda.
Addressing Parliament on the status of hosting the refugees, Mulimba said many Ugandans more so on social media have been driven into publishing images aimed at creating stories about the Afghan evacuees but warned that the idea is not good because it might put people’s lives at stake.
Mulimba stressed that many of the evacuees decided to flee their country for fear of their lives because some may be wanted by the Taliban government and the idea of posting their pictures might do even more harm to them yet they are still trying to bounce back from the hurdles of the 20-year war.
“I need to make an appeal to honourable colleagues, the country, but particularly to the media houses that the evacuees, who are now stateless, are people who are stressed, they need some kind of treatment such that they recover,” Mulimba told Parliament.
On the presence of Ugandans in Afghanistan, Mulimba told the August House that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs undertook efforts to establish the status of Uganda nationals in Afghanistan and has since learnt that 10 Ugandans working in the United Nations-UN system were evacuated on a flight to London, in the United Kingdom.
He noted that these are now undergoing a 14-day mandatory quarantine after which they will travel to Uganda.
Speaking about the same on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs minister, Gen Jeje Odongo said the government had arranged for some of its citizens to travel part on the same flight that brought the first batch of Afghan evacuees but this was not possible due to transportation problems.
“Whereas it had been arranged for some Ugandans to travel on the above flight due to the challenges of accessing the airport in Kabul, they were unable to make it. Arrangements are being made to bring them in the subsequent flight. Details of the subsequent arrivals will be communicated in due course,” Gen Odongo said.
