(CNN) -- A top Ugandan official on Monday defended a decision to load hundreds of Rwandans in trucks and forcibly return them home in an operation condemned as illegal by the United Nations.
Police went to two refugee camps in southwestern Uganda at gunpoint last week and forcibly returned 1,700 asylum seekers back to Rwanda, the United Nations refugee agency said.
Two died after they jumped out of the trucks, according to the refugee agency. At least two dozens were injured, some from police beatings.
In one of the camps, Rwandans were lured into groups on pretext that they would get information on their asylum claims, said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
"Panic spread among the group when police intervened, firing shots," Fleming said. "Force was used to push people onto trucks. They were then driven across the border to Rwanda, where they arrived the following morning".
CNN
