The Ugandan government is running out of land for the over 1 million refugees seeking shelter in the country. "The government land designated for refugees is limited and most of those areas are now occupied," Hillary Onek, Uganda's minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, told journalists at a news conference Tuesday.

Uganda now hosts over 1 million refugees, mainly from volatile neighboring countries, especially South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to figures from the UNHCR refugee agency. This makes it the third-largest refugee-hosting country in Africa and eighth in the world.

Onek stated that while they previously gave refugee families 1-3 acres of land to occupy, due to the swelling numbers, they had to start giving less. "Today it's been reduced to half an acre. We have no option except giving them what we can afford, and we are struggling," she explained. Making an appeal, he added, "That's why we are calling for support from other agencies and other countries that can also help and take these refugees, to take some."

Reports say the possible land shortages can lead to conflict in the country. At Nakivaale, a refugee camp that hosts over 124,800 refugees in Western Uganda's Isingiro district, a local council officer last week put out radio announcements calling on locals to attack and overrun the refugee camp in order to grab land.