Uganda has ratified the following international instruments for refugee protection: 

• 1951 Refugee Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive.
• 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which expands the Convention to apply universally and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution.
• 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which establishes a framework for the international protection of stateless persons.

In addition to these international protection frameworks, Uganda has also acceded to the following regional instruments:

• 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (OAU Convention), which is a binding convention on member states that have ratified it and provides a comprehensive framework on refugee protection in Africa. 
• African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which is a binding instrument on member states that have ratified it and provides a comprehensive rights framework on civil and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, and group (or collective) rights, referred to as “people’s rights.”
  

Furthermore, Uganda has taken a leading role in promoting the adoption of the Kampala Convention, formally known as the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. 

Uganda has also signed and ratified several other international legal instruments that also relate to treatment of refugees, including the: 

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which sets out protections for a wide range of human rights, including freedom from torture and other cruel or unusual punishment, fair trial rights, equality, and non-discrimination 
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights to education, fair and just working conditions, adequate standards of living, social security, and the highest attainable standard of health  
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which sets out provisions to ensure women’s full enjoyment of human rights on an equal basis with men  
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which requires signatories to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture  
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which protects children’s rights and obliges public bodies to consider children’s best interests  
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which obliges signatories to take action to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination   
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), which sets standards for national laws and procedures to protect migrant workers’ rights   
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which seeks to eliminate disability discrimination and safeguard the rights of disabled people.

In addition to its obligations under the aforementioned international instruments, Uganda is obligated to respect the international customary legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits any country from deporting any person to a country where they face the threat of persecution.

Uganda is often recognised as having one of the most progressive refugee protection regimes in the world, according to UNHCR.

Since 2006, Uganda has adopted a number of legislations, which reflect the government’s commitment to current international standards of refugee protection. The 2006 Refugees Act provides for granting refugee recognition on a prima facie basis, meaning that individuals receive asylum as recognised members of a given group rather than undergoing individual assessments. Section 24(4) of the Act provides that the Minister may make a declaration allowing certain groups to reside in Uganda on a prima facie basis, which has been applied to asylum seekers from eastern DRC, South Sudan and Sudan, whereby the application must be made in a refugee settlement or at a refugee border entry point. Section 4 of the 2006 Act establishes the framework for individual processing of asylum claims (for a discussion of short-comings in the non-prima facie approach, see Gaps in the Implementation of the Non-Prima Facie Refugee Status Determination in Uganda, Rachel Chinyakata et al., December 2025). The 2006 Refugees Act further determines rights and obligations of refugees, (such as the right to an identity card and travel document).

The 2010 Refugee Regulation allows for the integration of refugees within host communities and ensures access to the same public services as nationals. The 2015 Settlement Transformation Agenda sets out a national legal framework which aims to achieve self-reliance for refugees and bring social development to Ugandan nationals in refugee hosting areas. The 2017 Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) also adapts the principles and objectives set out in Annex 1 of the New York Declaration of Refugees and Migrants to the Ugandan context. In particular, the CRRF addresses mutual reinforcing pillars such as emergency response and ongoing needs of both refugees and host communities, and voluntary repatriation to other countries. In addition, the Office of the Prime Minister, UNHCR and UN agencies jointly developed the Uganda Country Refugee Response Plan, which strengthens Uganda’s asylum system as it entails provisions for lifesaving assistance, improved access to public services and strengthened co-existence and self-reliance among refugees.

Moreover, the 2020 Uganda National Child Policy specifically includes refugee children in all aspects of the policy and details the additional challenges refugee children face regarding wellbeing and access to Ugandan child care and protection services. 

Between 2021 and 2025, a number of plans have been introduced by the Ugandan government: the Jobs and Livelihoods Integrated Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities sets out to establish secure and sustainable communities for refugees in refugee-hosting districts. The Third National Development Plan commits to the integration of refugee planning into government plans and to the strengthening of data collection for refugee planning. In terms of implementation, the Jobs Plan and the Third National Development Plan serve as frameworks and guidelines for the socio-economic development of Uganda, in relation to refugees. The second Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities aims to comprehensively mobilise resources and coordinate efforts that cater for the education of refugees and host communities in Uganda.

Refugee Status Determination (RSD) is conducted by the Refugee Eligibility Committee (REC) of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with technical support from UNHCR, whereby the exact procedure differs for prima facie and non-prima facie refugees. For more information on the implementation of the RSD process in Uganda, see Refugee Status Determination – A Study of the Process in Uganda, Norwegian Refugee Council, 2028. For a step by step guide on the RSD process, please refer to the section below.