According to the police, 47 people have been arrested, including on suspicion of inciting violence. The students were arrested when they tried to march towards the country's parliament to hand over a petition, reports AFP.
Behind the project that the students are trying to stop is the French oil giant Total Energies. The crude oil is intended to be sent via a pipeline over 144 miles long to Tanzania's coast for export. Uganda and Tanzania are co-owners of the pipeline currently under construction.
Driving away elephants
The project has major consequences for local communities and the environment, warn environmental organizations. The drilling is planned to partially take place in Murchison Falls, the country's largest national park near Lake Albert in western Uganda, where Total Energies already has an oil field in production. Now the company wants to establish another one.
Since the oil drilling in the national park started last year, conflicts between wildlife and humans have increased, according to environmentalists. Five people have been killed by elephants because the animals have left the park, reports the environmental news site Mongabay, citing the Ugandan environmental organization Afiego.
The students are urging international financiers not to lend money to the oil project, but to invest in renewable energy instead.
Criticism from several quarters
Total Energies and the Chinese oil giant CNOOC are already drilling in Lake Albert near the national park. According to plan, the first Ugandan oil is expected to flow through the pipeline in 2025.
The EU has directed harsh criticism towards the project and urged the world to put pressure on both Uganda and Tanzania to protect the environment. The EU Parliament has also warned that the construction of the pipeline may force 100,000 people from their homes.
Total Energies claims that those who have been forced to leave their homes due to the project have received fair compensation. This is disputed in a report from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch.
The oil project has been hailed by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who hopes for an economic upswing for the country.
