Ugandan authorities arrest dozens of foreigners in possible human trafficking case

By Rédaction Africanews with AP

As Uganda presses ahead with its crackdown on illegal migration, authorities have arrested dozens of foreigners since Monday.

The latest operation, in which at least 231 were detained, targeted a group of people living in the north of the country, and another group living in a closed compound in the capital, Kampala.

Simon Peter Mundeyi, Uganda’s Immigration Department spokesperson, said, “these people were found without anything at all. No passports, no ID, nothing. They were only with their computers and that apartment place was self-contained. It had a restaurant in there, it had a pool table in there, it had all sorts of things and these people were restricted, they wouldn’t move out.”

”They wouldn’t be allow entry. No access and no exit was allowed,” he added.

The foreign ministry has suggested that human traffickers and cyber scam operations may have been involved with their entry to the country.

Mundeyi said, “first of all, coming in they do not come as a group, they come in as individuals. Somebody comes in as an individual and enters the country. So upon entry here now they group themselves into that illegal big group we found yesterday.”

The official said the foreigners were most likely lured into Uganda with job promises and had their passports taken away from them.

“We are looking for the boss who has their passports and also the boss who knows their terms of their stay here,” Mundeyi explained.

Authorities say there are now several categories of foreigners held for questioning, including suspected trafficking victims, perpetrators, and those who simply overstayed their visas.