Kenya : Asylum Under Threat

Summary

For more than a generation, the government and people of Kenya have been generously providing 

asylum for hundreds of thousands of refugees from across the region. Few countries in Africa 

can claim as flexible and as accommodating an asylum regime as Kenya has made available to 

those escaping persecution or war in neighbouring states. Amongst these, Somalis have figured 

prominently: for over twenty years, Somali civilians have been fleeing the conflict that has gripped 

much of their country. The world’s biggest refugee camp, hosting the largest Somali population 

outside Somalia, is in Dadaab in North Eastern Kenya, a group of five settlements that have been 

home to refugees since 1991. 

Dadaab is, however, an imperfect safe haven, and its long history of insecurity has been widely 

documented. Since they opened, the camps have been the scene of sexual violence, banditry and 

attacks on both refugees and humanitarian aid workers. Conditions for the camp residents, and on 

the broader macro-political level for refugees across Kenya, have deteriorated considerably in the 

past year. Consequently, Somali civilians currently seeking asylum in Kenya are encountering an 

increasingly fragile protective environment. During 2011, approximately 150,000 Somalis crossed 

the border and sought asylum in Dadaab. This influx has overwhelmed the already stretched 

resources of the humanitarian agencies, and worsened the state of overcrowding throughout the 

camps. Incidents of violence against police and refugees are on the rise, and levels of protection and 

security have been heavily undermined. Registration of new arrivals has been suspended, with the 

border and Liboi transit centre still officially closed.

In recent months the Kenyan government has been increasing its public rhetoric around an imminent 

return of refugees to Somalia, in light of progress made by the Kenyan military in ‘liberating’ areas 

from Al Shabaab control.  Although there have been some positive developments inside Somalia, 

the situation remains too unstable for a mass repatriation. The report survey also indicates that the 

majority of camp residents would not willingly return to Somalia under current circumstances. 

These compound threats to the protection of Somali asylum-seekers and refugees come as the 

national legal framework on refugee protection, the 2006 Refugees Act, is under review in line 

with the new constitutional dispensation.  Other structural adjustments in the system of refugee 

protection are underway: the Government of Kenya is increasingly assuming responsibilities from 

UNHCR, such as reception and registration of refugees and asylum seekers (as from March 2011), 

and anticipates assuming refugee status determination in 2013. 

From a legal standpoint, Kenya’s obligations towards refugees are clear. Kenya is signatory to the 

1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and a range of other international human 

rights treaties that describe the basic rights of individuals in need of protection and asylum. Kenya’s 

constitution defines the rights and freedoms to be enjoyed by all persons in the country, and 

the 2006 Refugees Act domesticates many of the 1951 Convention standards for refugee rights. 

However, several of the key provisions of the law have not been applied in practice, and there is still 

no comprehensive refugee policy determining their actual implementation.

This report by the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) examines the policy and practice of Kenya’s 

refugee protection framework. Although much has been written on the situation in the Dadaab 

camps, there has been no holistic examination of the legal and policy backdrop to refugee protection 

in Kenya.  The purpose of the study, therefore, is to establish the range of rights to which refugees 

and asylum-seekers in Kenya are entitled under national law (as well as international and regional 

legal frameworks), and to identify and assess the current implementation gaps. The research aims 

to examine the key protection priorities for the Somali refugee caseload in Dadaab and on the 

migration corridor, and make recommendations to stakeholders on the practical application of the 

laws relating to the treatment of refugees.   

Read full report in PDF : http://www.rckkenya.org/rokdownloads/docs/Report-Asylum-Under-Threat.pdf