Overview

• Dutch asylum minister David van Weel and Ugandan foreign minister Odongo Jeje Abubakhar signed the intention memorandum on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
• The center would temporarily hold people whose asylum claims were rejected and who cannot be returned directly, with transfers initially limited to a small pilot group.
• The government says detailed legal and operational work will take roughly six to nine months and must align with Dutch, EU and international law in coordination with the European Commission, UNHCR and IOM.
• Human-rights groups and Dutch opposition parties criticize the plan, citing risks of detention and Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ laws, and observers note that the UK’s Rwanda policy collapsed after court defeats.
• The initiative originates with the right-wing PVV under Geert Wilders and arrives in an election season, leaving the project’s continuation uncertain as Uganda also positions itself as a regional transit hub.