UNHCR welcomes Kenya High Court decision on urban refugee rights
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
UNHCR welcomes the High Court of Kenya's ruling which upholds the asylum right of urban refugees. The decision, reached on 26 July, relates to the "Petition number 19 of 2013" in which refugees challenged a directive issued by the Government of Kenya in December last year to transfer refugees from urban areas to the refugee camps at Dadaab and Kakuma.
The High Court ruled against the directive which had particularly dire consequences for the protection and well-being of refugee communities in Nairobi and other cities in the country.
Indeed, as a result of the directive Somali refugees and asylum seekers began to report increased police harassment, detention and extortion mainly in Nairobi. Many of them could not move about freely and fear of such treatment led hundreds of Somali refugees to return to Somalia or move to neighboring countries.
As of December, there were a total of 51,000 mainly Somalia urban refugees in Kenya.
Most of the refugees living in urban areas have developed coping mechanisms, and so do rely on humanitarian assistance. There are also large numbers of refugee children attending schools in urban areas whose education would have been compromised had the relocation order been carried out.
In keeping with its mandate, UNHCR appeared in the petition as a "friend of the Court" or "Amicus Curiae" and provided advice on the applicable international refugee and human rights laws.
UNHCR hopes that the government will implement this important constitutional decision and move fast to resume legal services that were suspended pending the court process. These include the registration and issuance of documents to refugees and asylum seekers, which are essential for their freedom of movement, access to social and community benefits, as well as their protection against arbitrary arrest.
UNHCR believes that this court decision is important for the jurisprudence on refugees' rights not only in Kenya but also around the world.
Kenya hosts some 600,000 refugees.
For further information on this topic, please contact:
- In Kenya (Nairobi): Emmanuel Nyabera on mobile +254 733 995 975
- In Geneva: Daniel MacIsaac on mobile +41 79 200 7617
- Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba on mobile +41 79 249 34 83
Related news and stories
Q&A with Mary Maker, UNHCR's newest Global Goodwill Ambassador
As the Horn of Africa drought enters a sixth failed rainy season, UNHCR calls for urgent assistance
Kenya's Dadaab camp swells with Somalis fleeing drought, conflict
Kenya's Dadaab camp swells with new wave of Somalis fleeing drought, hunger and conflict
UNHCR welcomes Kenya's decision to end statelessness for the Pemba people
Somalis flee drought and conflict to Kenya's Dadaab camps
Your search for « kakuma » matched 995 results. Displaying page 24 of 111 pages.
-
3. market place submissions
22 Nov 2019 ... on Forced Displacement (Lives in Dignity) -European Union Burden- and Responsibility-Sharing Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund -International Finance Corporation (IFC) Burden- and ...... -
Culture, context and mental health and psychosocial well-being of refugees and internally displaced persons from South Sudan
14 Feb 2023 ... ... Kakuma and Kalobeyei South Sudanese refugees in Nairobi 14.6 MHPSS for South Sudanese refugees in ... (UNHCR, Kosti, Sudan); Caroline Jeptoo (UNHCR, Kakuma, Kenya); Alex Munyano Kalatu (UNHCR, Gondar, ...... -
UNHCR Mid-Year Progress Report 2002 - Kenya
1 Sep 2002 ... By 30 June 2002, 561 of the above refugees were transferred to the Kakuma camp. As part of a ... fighting triggered some influxes of refugees from Southern Sudan to the Kakuma refugee camp. ...... -
Congolese refugee in Kenya determined to show he is not helpless
12 Aug 2013 ... I was settled in Kakuma refugee camp by UNHCR," he said. "I had never been in a refugee camp before. ... Late in 2007 he was reunited with family members who had arrived in Kakuma and resuming focusing on ...... -
UNHCR-NGO Toolkit for Practical Cooperation on Resettlement. Operational activities - Identification of refugees in need of resettlement: Field Examples. Verification leading to resettlement
Jun 2011 ... on a profiling exercise in preparation for resettlement processing in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. ... and BID experience - was dispatched to the Kakuma resettlement unit for a two-week period. ...... -
Refugee athletes set out for Rio Olympics, and history
28 Jul 2016 ... Five middle-distance runners from South Sudan, until recently living in Kakuma refugee camp, in ... They have lived and grown up in the remote Kakuma camp, where there are few modern facilities for ...... -
Youth Education Programme
25 Sep 2018 ... Mary Maker, South Sudanese refugee, speaks at TEDxKakumaCamp, held at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya ... In Kakuma camp in Kenya, 75% of refugees are under 25. In spite of this, official poli- cies and ...... -
Unit plan for ages 9-11 in Language & Literature: Refugee Children Recount their Experiences
9 Feb 2007 ... The teacher briefly tells the class about the refugee children at Kakuma refugee camp and that the ... party", p. 26-27. For background on Kakuma Camp, see Kakuma Refugee Camp - "the children's camp". ...... -
Statement by Mr. António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the Parliamentary League, Tokyo, 25 October 2005
25 Oct 2005 ... Mori. Over four years ago, Mr. Mori visited the camp we run for Sudanese refugees in Kakuma, Kenya. I visited Kakuma myself in August and can appreciate the high level of interest and commitment that ......