Yesterday, a local newspaper reported that Ugandans and Nigerians were blacklisted from entering the UAE as a way of curbing illegal immigration and criminality associated with people coming from the two countries.
Recently, the UAE deported over 600 Ugandans who had overstayed in the countries and had accumulated fines and provided them with free tickets back home.
Anonymous sources at Uganda’s embassy in Abu Dhabi say the move is to curb the number of Ugandans and Nigerians dealing in fake businesses and conning people who end up on UAE streets with no jobs.
Commenting on the development, RX Radio’s Olive Najjuma said the UAE government is adopting the move to have no Ugandan allowed into the country unless they have 5.3 million shillings (5000 dirhams) in their bank accounts. In her opinion, the said move will lessen the number of Ugandans on the streets recently, reported to be 3000.
“Even the Minister of labour said there are a lot of Ugandan girls stuck in Dubai jails. Probably they are trying to cut down the number of jobless people who litter their streets,” she said.
According to her, the initiative might reduce the number of Ugandans trafficked to the UAE and promised jobs but end up in warehouses and have their migration documents confiscated.
Her co-host James Onen said it was sad that Uganda was categorized among the nations known for people trafficking. “Never was there a day I thought Uganda would be associated with human trafficking, but we are bound to become global stars when it comes to this crap,” he said.
Most Ugandans go to the UAE to do casual jobs and housekeeping. However, effective October 6, 2022, Ugandans, whether tourists, casual laborers, or domestic workers, will have to show proof of good conduct and a bank statement of 5 million shillings to be admitted into the UAE.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.