The national policy of Uganda concerning refugees is called ‘self-reliance’ and it has been widely praised, and described by UNHCR as a model of development-based assistance for other countries to emulate.

In contrast to many refugee-hosting countries which often require that refugees live in camps where they have restricted socio-economic rights and freedoms, Uganda’s ‘self-reliance’ policy allows refugees the right to work and freedom of movement.

In 2016, the BBC suggested that Uganda is ‘one of the best places to be a refugee and that is why over 1.3 million refugees from countries like South Sudan, Rwanda, DRC Congo, Burundi, Eritrea have chosen Uganda to get asylum status.

The Ugandan government considers and projects refugees as “assets” – economic factors that make contributions to the state – rather than as “burdens”.

To become an economical actor, these groups must learn the language most used in business and thus the value of learning Luganda.