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 20 of 111 pages.
-
Resources for ages 9-11 in Art
27 Apr 2007 ... "My village in Sudan" Painting by Bor Alier, aged 17, Sudanese, Kakuma refugee camp "In my village in Sudan, people would come and take photographs of us and ask about our terrible life. We would tell ...... -
Resources for ages 9-11 in Art
26 Apr 2007 ... "Crossing the River Gillo" Painting by Mac Anyat, aged 17, Sudanese, Kakuma refugee camp "It was terrible. People shouting, screaming: 'Run, swim, go, go!' Where was my friend? He was taken by the ...... -
UNHCR seeks funds to respond to flooding in Dadaab refugee camps
6 Nov 2009 ... We have already begun to make engineering improvements in the two camps - Kakuma in northwestern ... In order to protect refugees in Kakuma, the camp harder hit by floods in the past, we have diverted ...... -
Learning for a future: refugee education in developing countries - Chapter 4: Peace education and refugee youth
1 Dec 2001 ... ... The Lutheran World Foundation in the Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya states that they range from ages ... simultaneously in two refugee camps in Kakuma, in the north-western part of the country, and ...... -
Refugee Olympian Yiech Pur Biel named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
4 Aug 2020 ... A refugee, Pur was forced to flee the conflict in South Sudan in 2005, journeying alone to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya when he was only ten years old. Growing up in Kakuma, Pur devoted himself to ...... -
Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis
28 Aug 2018 ... Rihanna Siraj, 15, Ethiopian refugee, attends school in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. She is among one ... Her determination made her both a student and a teacher – a teacher whose classroom in Kakuma ...... -
Understanding the socioeconomic conditions of refugees in Kalobeyei, Kenya - Summary
23 Feb 2021 ... The Kalobeyei Settlement was established in 2015 in Turkana West, Kenya, to accommodate the growing population of the Kakuma Refugee Camps. The settlement was set up based on principles of refugee ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 1999 - Kenya
1 Jun 2000 ... ... Constraints Refugees in Kenya are confined to the Dadaab and Kakuma camp complexes, which are ... Armed attacks along the Somali border led to its closure in August 1999. In the Kakuma camps, ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2008-2009 - Kenya
1 Dec 2007 ... of the refugee camps in Dadaab and Kakuma, UNHCR will continue to assist NGOs working in the camps. ... has decided that all new Somali refugees arriving in Dadaab will be housed in camps in Kakuma. ......