UGANDA: REFUGEE FLOW MONITORING - Nakivale Refugee Settlement in the Southwest Region of Uganda (19 February - 19 March)

Over the reporting period, a total of 15,885 movements were  observed at five Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) through random interviews with travelers. These locations were chosen strategically as major transit points for monitoring movements in and out of Nakivale refugee settlement and from the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo through Nyakabande Transit Center. In the reporting period (19 February, 2024 - 19 March, 2024) the majority of movements from Nakivale settlement were outgoing flows at 59% against incoming flows (at 41%). Forty-four per cent of the observed movements were refugees at the five FMPs.

The means of transport commonly  used was   foot at 37%). Other means used included; motor bike & bike (28%), taxi or car (23%), truck (8%), bus (2%) and others (2%). Most of the flows were due to economic reasons at 29%). Other reasons for the movements included; family reasons (15%) and return (14%). Most of the movements were observed at the Nakivale check point FMP representing 52%) followed by Busanza at 18%), Bunagana (17%), Rugaaga (8%) and Nyakabande transit centre (5%).

Vulnerabilities among the travelers was mostly registered among  children under five at 6%), pregnant and/lactating mother at 6%) and the elderly (at 1%).

Out of the 4,531 movements driven by economic reasons, 60% were  business related activities such as one-off market transactions, sales/purchases, meetings, and business trips. 29% of the movements were regular daily or weekly travel for work or livelihood activities (including commuting and mining). Additionally, 10% of the movements were motivated by job opportunities, while the remaining 1% fell into other categories.