No fewer than 1,102 Ugandan have been expatriated from South Africa following the xenophobic attack on foreigners to mark the final phase of the country’s largest-ever government-led overseas evacuation operation following weeks of unrest.
The Ugandan government brought back 219 of it’s citizens in the south African country bringing the total number of citizens repatriated under the first phase of the government-backed operation to 1,102, all evacuated through six coordinated charter flights, in what the Ugandan government described as an unprecedented humanitarian effort to protect its citizens affected by the attack.
The evacuation which concluded on Thursday, after the final chartered flight landed safely at the Entebbe International Airport near Kampala after departing the International Airport in Johannesburg as confirmed in a statement issued by the East African country’s embassy.
The statement issued on its social media on Friday noted that the mission was executed through a whole-of-government approach involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ugandan High Commission in Pretoria, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), Uganda Airlines and other government agencies and partners.
..
It added that the coordinated response underscored the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety and welfare of Ugandan nationals abroad during times of crisis.