Uganda has a strong legal and policy framework to protect refugees from discrimination. The Constitution and Refugee Act (2006) prohibits discrimination against refugees on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other ground.

The Constitution, under article 21 (3), defines discrimination as the act of giving different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, or social or economic standing, political opinion or disability. Pursuant to article 21(1) of the Constitution, all persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life and in every other respect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law. Furthermore, as per article 21 (2), a person shall not be discriminated against on the ground of sex, race, color, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed, or religion, or social or economic standing, political opinion or disability. 

However, in May 2023, the Parliament of Uganda passed the Anti Homosexuality Act (2023) into a law. The Act criminalizes sexual acts, including acts between consenting adults, of the same sex and prescribes life imprisonment upon conviction. The law is a legislative evolution from the statutory prohibition of same-sex sexual relations under the label “unnatural offences” in Section 145 of the Penal Code Act, which similarly imposes life imprisonment. This would create a huge challenge for LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers.  In practice, refugees, and asylum-seekers report incidents of discrimination, for instance in relation to gender, ethnicity, disability and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities. 
 

Nevertheless, the Refugee Act also provides specific measures to protect refugees from discrimination. The Refugees Act, as per section 29(1(c)), states that recognized refugee shall, subject to this Act, the OAU Convention and the Geneva Convention, be entitled to fair and just treatment without discrimination on grounds of race, religion, sex, nationality, ethnic identity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Unlike the Constitution, the Refugee Act, explicitly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality.