Twenty-one Ugandans trapped in Myanmar slave camps to be repatriated

What the report says

Uganda says 21 citizens trafficked to Myanmar and held in forced-labour camps are expected to return home next week after months in captivity, according to The Observer. Government spokesperson Allan Kasujja said the group had been recruited with offers of well-paid work, then confined in compounds where victims were forced into online scam operations. The government said negotiations with Myanmar officials were close to completion.

The report said the return plan would involve handing the victims to Uganda’s ambassador to Myanmar, Betty Bigombe, in Yangon before repatriation. One victim, Felix Adupe, was released by Myanmar authorities on Thursday and transferred to Edan, a nongovernmental organisation that provides medical care and safe custody, Foreign Affairs minister Adonia Ayebare said.

The article also noted that 12 other Ugandans arrested in Zambia in August remain in prison while authorities verify their identities and work toward repatriation. Kasujja used the case to warn Ugandans to be cautious about overseas job offers, especially those arranged through relatives or acquaintances. The piece places the Myanmar case in the wider context of trafficking networks that have targeted Ugandans with promises of jobs in Southeast Asia, Russia and the Middle East, with previous government rescue operations bringing home other victims from Myanmar in 2024 and 2025.