KAMPALA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- An ongoing biometric verification of refugee numbers in Uganda on Thursday surpassed 1 million people, a spokesperson of the UN refugee agency here said.
Duniya Aslam Khan, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Uganda said so far 1 million refugees have been verified out of an estimated 1.4 million.
"The biometric data verification will assist the government to better assess refugee data in the country, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency to get the refugees the support they need," Khan said.
Uganda started the biometric verification exercise in March this year following allegations that some senior government officials mismanaged funds meant to support refugees and inflated the number of refugees in the country.
UNHCR figures show that Uganda currently hosts about 1.4 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
