Justin Portal Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and the most senior bishop in the Church of England has during his visit to the State House on Thursday commended Uganda for hosting refugees.
The Archbishop and his delegation from England commenced their trip to Africa 28th August and were from South Sudan when they visited Uganda’s refugee camps that house South Sudanese refugees in Adjumani and Moyo districts.
Throughout his visit, Mr Welby has been accompanied by the Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Reverend Stanley Ntagali.
The purpose of Mr Welby’s visit to refugee camps is to bring “encouragement and hope” to the people of the region, the Archbishop’s Adviser for Anglican Communion Affairs, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, told media reporters this week.
During his meet with the President, the two discussed a wide range of issues.
“I briefed him on the regional efforts to restore peace in South Sudan and support the refugees,” Museveni has said.
Mr Welby suggested reconciliation as a way of addressing the long-term political challenges in neighbouring South Sudan.
He was glad the word ‘refugees’ is not used to refer to the South Sudanese living in Moyo and Adjumani camps.
Roughly 3.5 million South Sudanese people – at least one-quarter of the entire country’s population – have had to leave their homes since war broke out in December 2013, UN reports.
On 3rd April 2017, Filippo Grandi, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees said Uganda was at breaking point when Bidi Bidi become the world’s largest refugee camp.
“Uganda has continued to maintain open borders,” said Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda’s prime minister. “But this unprecedented mass influx is placing enormous strain on our public services and local infrastructure.”
marvin@ugchristiannews.com
