Inside Museveni’s deportation deal with Trump

What the report says

The Observer reports that Uganda received eight deportees from the United States at Entebbe on April 1, 2026, after a 16-hour flight arranged under an asylum cooperation agreement signed between the Ugandan government and the U.S. in July 2025. The passengers — one woman and seven men — were taken to a hotel near Kampala after arriving in handcuffs and leg chains, according to Ugandan human rights lawyer Robert Okot, who met some of them shortly after landing.

The article says the deportees had been held in U.S. detention centers before being flown to Uganda, and that many did not speak English and had limited access to legal help, family contact, or clear information about their destination. Okot and several rights advocates described the transfer as disorienting and traumatic. The report also says Ugandan officials gave mixed messages about the deal’s existence before later confirming the agreement and saying it was meant to apply only to deportees from other African countries.

The Observer says the arrangement has triggered legal and political criticism in Uganda. The Uganda Law Society and East African Law Society filed a High Court challenge in April 2026, arguing that the deal lacked a rights-compliant process and conflicted with constitutional and international obligations. The report places the agreement in a broader context of U.S. deportation policy under Donald Trump and concerns in Uganda about governance, democratic standards, and the treatment of asylum seekers.