KAMPALA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations refugee agency in Uganda on Wednesday urged for the creation of jobs for refugee youths to curb possible violence.
Joel Boutroue, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Uganda, in a statement urged partners to prioritize labor-intensive initiatives to create employment for youths in refugee settlements and adjacent host communities.
He said the failure to attend to the needs of these youths could be a time bomb as they were recoursing to anti-social behavior.
He cited a clash between youths of different ethnic groups in a refugee settlement of South Sudanese in Arua, northwestern Uganda, on June 17, which left four dead and over 19 injured.
More than 1 million South Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda since December 2013, according to the UNHCR. Uganda also hosts refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda.
