Kampala — THE International Rescue Committee (IRC), an American relief agency, has been blacklisted over allegations of inciting refugees against relocation from Kiryandongo to a new resettlement area in Nebbi.

Second Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Moses Ali told Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday, that IRC had also incited the refugees to write bad letters about some ministers.

"I am sorry to inform you that IRC, which moved with these refugees from Achol Pii, has incited them not to go to West Nile. We have marked them (IRC) and we shall not accept them anywhere now," Ali, who is also the Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, said.

"We are praying that the refugees being brainwashed by this NGO will follow the instructions to move and if they don't, they have the option of going back," Ali said.

He called for more involvement of the host districts in refugee programmes to reduce overhead costs.

Lubbers will today visit Kiryandongo resettlement scheme where some 7,000 refugees from Acol Pii were temporarily relocated, following a rebel attack on their camp in August last year.

Lubbers hailed Uganda's Self-Reliance Strategy (SRS) which aims at making refugees self-sustaining by availing them land for farming.

In a separate meeting with the Third

Deputy Prime Minister, James Wapakhabulo, Lubbers urged Africa to find a lasting solution to the refugee problem by working through bodies like the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).

Wapakhabulo, who is also the foreign affairs minister, briefed Lubbers on the conflicts in the Great Lakes region and the initiatives being taken to address them.

He said Uganda's relations with Sudan had improved. He said the Sudan government was talking peace with the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a move, when successfully concluded, would see thousands of Sudanese refugees repatriated.

Wapakhabulo said in building NEPAD, Africa was developing economically and democratically.