Ugandans in China don't want to come back, says Minister, Henry Okello Oryem

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Ugandans in China, who had earlier asked to be returned home due to COVID-19-related distress, have refused to be repatriated now.

In a statement issued yesterday by Henry Okello Oryem, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ugandans in China are not among the 2,392 persons on the ministry’s list of potential returnees.

Oryem attributed the change of mind to the wellbeing of Ugandans living in China.

The minister said no Ugandan who had traveled abroad to look for better life wishes to return to poverty in Uganda from which they ran away.

"Even if they come back, they will come into poverty. And if they come back, no one will welcome them back into their homes and they will also have nothing to do, "Oryem said.

"These Ugandans, in the beginning, wanted to come back because the Chinese were mistreating them but once Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kuteesa met the Chinese Ambassador and sorted out the issues, they didn’t want to come back, "Oryem added.

Oryem also revealed that when the Ugandans in China realized the COVID-19 situation was changing, they decided not to come back.

"Most of the people who are returning are those who had gone for business or students who finished their studies. Those who are staying in Dubai are saying most people who were working left and so there are many jobs and they are calling their relatives to go and work," he said.

He said there are currently more job opportunities in foreign countries since many people left their jobs for fear of the pandemic.