The Dutch government is preparing to transfer rejected asylum seekers to Uganda under a new migration deal modeled on one previously struck by the Trump administration but will exclude homosexuals and other LGBT+ individuals due to Uganda’s anti-gay legislation.
According to Dutch Migration and Foreign Affairs Minister David van Weel, the plan involves establishing a transit hub in Uganda that could become operational as early as next year. Speaking to the Financial Times, van Weel said the government expects possible legal challenges once the scheme begins.
“The agreement is in compliance with international law, with European law, with our national laws. But of course this will be evaluated in the beginning and then we’ll see whether or not that holds up,” van Weel said.
He emphasized that human rights were a key pillar of the deal signed last month with Kampala; a departure from the similar arrangement struck by former U.S. President Donald Trump, which excluded oversight from international agencies.
“We don’t deny a responsibility that human rights of people that we send there need to be respected,” van Weel said, adding that the Netherlands had asked the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help oversee the process.
The pilot program will initially target migrants from countries in and around East Africa.
“At the moment we have a clear system for asylum applications, but too many people stay here when they have no right,” said van Weel, who belongs to the right-wing liberal VVD party.
van Weel added, “We need to ensure that people that actually don’t have a right to stay here in Europe actually leave.”
Under the arrangement, Uganda would receive migrants whom the Netherlands has been unable to repatriate to their countries of origin.
Van Weel stressed that LGBT+ individuals would not be sent to Uganda due to its anti-gay legislation, which imposes life imprisonment for same-sex relationships.
“I think we have a responsibility for the people we send there. There’s also a responsibility from the Ugandan side,” he said.
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire confirmed that the two countries had reached an agreement “on principles,” including Uganda’s acceptance of “persons without an EU-country of origin” and assurances that the Netherlands would not use Uganda “for political activism.”
The Netherlands becomes the second European country after Italy to sign a migration partnership with a non-EU country to host rejected asylum seekers.
In 2024, the Netherlands ordered about 19,000 migrants to leave its territory but managed to return only 4,200.
The UNHCR stated that it had “not seen the details nor had any formal discussions” on the Dutch-Uganda arrangement, indicating that consultations with key humanitarian bodies are still pending.
