Kenya praised as home to most refugees in Africa

Kenya is the country of choice for asylum seekers in Africa with over 550,000 refugees on its soil, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Country Representative Raouf Mazou has said.

Mr Mazou said Kenya is also the fifth stop in the world for asylum seekers after Pakistan, Iran, Jordan and Lebanon, adding that at present there are refugees and asylum seekers from over 20 nations in the country.

Speaking yesterday during an open forum to mark the World Refugees Day in Nairobi, Mazou said Kenya’s location is strategic for asylum seekers as it is next to troubled nations and also represents one of the strongest and most prosperous economies in the continent.

“Kenya is the main asylum country in the continent hence one needs to look more attentively at the content, duration and scope of the asylum provided,” he said.

He said yesterday’s celebrations acknowledged the plight of refugees and the sacrifices made by those providing them with assistance.

“As a result of the Somali and South Sudan situations, Kenya is dealing with two of some of the most protracted refugee situations in the world,” Mazou said.

Boost economy

He added that the directive by the Interior Cabinet Secretary to settle refugees in gazetted refugee camps was a strict encampment policy which should be adhered to.

Mazou said their task is to ensure the refugees are protected once they are in camps.

“True protection would be to ensure the refugees can fend for themselves and provide them with the possibility of engaging in livelihood activities in ways that do not interfere with the country’s economy and the host population,” he added.

UNHCR lauded Africa Refugee Convention for saving millions of lives by saving people in Africa.

Refugees Representative Ojuni Ojula from Ethiopia said the Government made the right decision to settle all refugees in camps, but that the way it was implemented was not decent.