Over 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers on holding list

View of Kaguma refugee camp in Turkana County on February 27, 2022. [Photo/File]

The number of people seeking refugees and asylum status in the country stands at over 200,000, and it continues to rise every day.

The delay has affected the process of acquiring legal documentation, with the situation worsened by a lack of funding and the tedious process by the Department of Refugee Services.

Kenya is currently host to over 860,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from neighbouring countries plagued with insecurity and conflicts, such as Somalia, Dr Congo, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, among others.

According to Deu Kamuzinzi, a refugee and the advocacy lead at Youth Voices Community, the delays to clear the piling backlog had locked out the refugees from contributing to the economy.

He noted that the delay in getting documentation had locked out the refugees from getting employment, education and health services.

“Over 200,000 refugees have their applications stacked at the Refugee Status Determination desk due to the agency underfunding and low staffing, leaving applicants in limbo,” he said.

According to Lucy Duku, the chairperson at Refugee Women in Nairobi, lack of critical documents such as work permits has denied the refugees from accessing professional jobs despite meeting education requirements.

“Our children were born in this country and have graduated from universities but cannot get jobs as they do not have the necessary documents like KRA PIN,” she said.

Duku called on the government to address their concerns by empowering women economically and enhancing their security, adding that some have lived in the country for over 30 years.

They were addressing the press on the sidelines of a stakeholders meeting to promote refugee integration and self-reliance in Avian Court, Naivasha.

To address this, Kituo Cha Sheria Chairperson Justus Munyithya said the body would engage relevant government agencies to review existing legal and policy frameworks.

Munyithya said amendments to existing laws will accelerate full refugee integration so that they could enjoy rights to work, education and health.

He said the organisation which offers pro bono legal services to refugees had successfully sued the government in an attempt to close the Kakuma refugee camp.

According to Dorothy Omboto, a lawyer and consultant researcher, the existing laws limited refugee integration and access to decent work due to the tedious process to acquire work permits.

“We are calling for the abolishment of work permit requirements for refugees and instead demand the issuance of refugee IDs to ease their frustrations with the current systems,” she said.

On his part, Mohammed Hassan from Refugee Hub said that only one per cent of those seeking crucial documents from the government are cleared, locking out thousands of others.