Ugandans in diaspora must return home to replace passports – DCIC

Kampala, (UG):- The Ministry of International Affairs’ Directorate for Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) has changed its guidelines for Ugandans living in the diaspora, saying anyone who claims that his or her passport got lost must return home for replacement.

The Ministry Spokesperson, Mr Simon Peter Mundeyi confirmed the amended guidelines which he said came after reports of some Ugandans in the diaspora selling their passports to strangers at $5000 (about UGX18M).

He added these would then claim that their passports got lost and whenever a replacement is done, they sell them to other blacks purposely to execute their criminal activities.

As a result, he says the DCIC resolved that every Ugandan who claims that his or her passport has gotten lost must return home and process the replacement from here.

“Ugandans losing passports must return. The passports were being sold to fraudsters and they were used in crime. In some of these countries differentiating Africans would be difficult. They would sell at USD 5,000. It was easy for them to get these passports. Working with these foreign governments, we resolved that anybody who claims he has lost a passport must return home so that thorough investigations are done,” Mr Mundeyi said.

He further explained that many countries in Europe and Asia would find it difficult to differentiate blacks and it was becoming easy for a black person from another country to beat the immigration system using a Ugandan passport.

As a result, the DCID says Ugandans in the diaspora should not expect that they would acquire new passports or replacements at the embassies in their respective countries.

“The embassies can only be used for collecting a passport whose details have been captured from home. However, those seeking renewal for expired passports do not need to travel back as they can be served by the embassies because they will have presented the outdated one.”

To enforce the new directive, Mundeyi revealed that the Directorate’s plans to replace all immigration officers attached to different embassies are complete.

“The embassies whose immigration staff are set to be replaced after the end of their four-year contract in August this year include Ottawa in Canada, Pretoria in South Africa, Washington in the US, Copenhagen in Denmark, London in UK, and Abu Dhabi in UAE,” he said.

He also warned foreigners against falling into the tricks of fraudsters disguising as immigration staff, who he says are always dressed to kill and often wave down foreigners on motorcycles and in cars around the City abattoir at Old Port Bell and former Electoral Commission offices.

“Fraudsters posing as immigration officers are now targeting foreigners. They have counterfeit immigration IDs. They have been designed to defraud foreigners. They hide around the abattoir and former EC. They flag them when they come on motorcycles. They threaten and sometimes arrest people,” Mundeyi said.

Meanwhile, the DCIC also said it has deported 82 illegal foreigners from America, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and DRC.

These, according to Mundeyi, had illegally stayed in the country without bothering to renew their expired work and resident permits.