COVID-19: Govt Tells Ugandans Trapped In China To Remain There Till Last Hour

By Henry Mulindwa
The ministry of foreign affairs has said that it is not the intention of government to bring them back until the situation normalizes.Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa told the press at the ministry’s office that the plan to repatriate those Ugandans cannot be effected because all our airports are closed down.”We have closed our borders and airlines stopped coming here. So, even if you have money and you want to return or bring back your relatives, there’s no way. So, our appeal is that let them remain where they are and let us assist them from where they are until the situation normalizes. That is the position of government” he said.Kutesa’s statement comes at a time when reports of mistreatment and harrassment of Ugandans are being reported in China. The Chinese not only target Ugandans but also other blacks accusing them of having exported Corona virus to China.Kutesa on Saturday met the Chinese ambassador and put these concerns before him. He added that further contacts with Chinese government have been made and so far, the there are positive resolutions reached which Chinese government has promised to implement to address the issues.He said that following those concerns, it has been established that there are various categories of Ugandans who are trapped in China. He said whereas some are there as students, others are teachers, businessmen and visitors. He however, said that many of these especially businessmen got trapped there as a result of the lockdown imposed by China when Corona broke out. As a result, their visas have since expired. To address this, authorities in China have agreed to extend their visas for more two months.He also revealed that some of those who went as visitors are finding it difficult to turn up for compulsory testing for COVID-19 put up by Chinese government fearing to be arrested as illegal immigrants. He advised all of them to move out of their hideouts and go for registration at our consulate in Guangzhou and also embassy at Beijing. He said upon registration, this is the only way they can be assisted.He said that government has agreed with China to allow Ugandans stay in China because all travels globally were affected by the epidemic. He added that China had also agreed that no discrimination is made against Ugandans in access to services including health facilities, restaurants, hotels among others. He explained that China assured government that it was not the policy of government to begin attacks on Ugandans but rather blamed this on individual actions and therefore authorities promised to take action. The authorities in China blamed those negative actions of mistreatment and harraasment of Ugandans to what he called miscommunication or failure to sensitize the local governments on how to handle this situation especially in the Guangzhou province.The foreign affairs ministry has been under pressure to show steps government had taken to help Ugandans trapped in China. Reports had earlier indicated that most of them were being thrown out of their places of residence and were sleeping on streets.