[5] Subsequently, other fishermen — from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — came to the island because of its proximity to fishing grounds rich with Nile perch.

[6] A diplomatic row between the two countries arose in February 2009, when Kenyans living on Migingo were required to purchase special permits from the Ugandan government.

[7] On 12 March 2009, a Ugandan-government press release proposed that the matter be resolved by a survey, using as a guideline the boundaries set by the Kenya Colony and Protectorate Order in Council, 1926, which is copied into the Ugandan constitution, and which identifies the boundary line as tangentially touching the western tip of Pyramid Island, and then running in a straight line just west of due north to the western tip of Kenya's' Ilemba Island.

Kenya's Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode replied that he would be sending Kenyan police to the island.

In July 2009 a survey team found that the island is 510 metres (1,670 ft) east of the Kenya–Uganda border within the lake, a finding supported by openly available Google Earth imagery.

[16] The Ugandan flag was lowered, Uganda withdrew its military troops and agreed that all its police officers would leave the island.

[9] A joint re-demarcation line of the border was launched on 2 June 2009 to recover and to place survey markers on land, making delineation of the boundary on the lake more precise, with results released in late July 2009 confirming that the island falls 510 metres (1,670 ft) on the Kenyan side of the line.

[13][14][17] Tiny Migingo's location within 200 metres (660 ft) of the much larger Usingo Island is clear both on Google Earth and on widely available television network videos depicting aerial helicopter photography.