Improve refugees’ lives, urges Kajwang’

Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang’ has called for the issuance of work permits to refugees living in the country.

The minister said that it was wrong for refugees to go through school and later be denied the required documents when they are ready to work.

He further asked for a review of the National Refugee Policy to cater for the immigrants, who had been through harsh conditions in their home countries and needed to be treated with dignity.

“It is wrong for Kenya to train young people who are refugees and after they graduate they are not given jobs. They cannot get jobs just because they cannot access work permits.

“If it is the work permits that you don’t get but you have opportunities to get jobs, then we will review that policy (National Refugee Policy) so that you can access jobs,” said Mr Kajwang’.

This, he said, would contribute to the economic growth and welfare of the country. He was speaking during the commemoration of the World Refugee Day on Monday at the University of Nairobi.

The minister also directed the Department of Refugees and other relevant agencies to move with speed and decongest the crowded Dadaab refugee camp. A new site, Ifo II, is ready for refugees to move there.

“We have heard about the congestion at Dadaab for too many years.

“We have invested a lot of money in the new site so that we can decongest the Dadaab camp and to plan our camps better, even for safety and security.”

Refugee Consortium of Kenya executive director Lucy Kiama asked the government to expedite moving refugees to Ifo II.

Speed up process

“The process should be speeded up because land has already been set aside and a lot of resources have been spent by different agencies.

“Refugees who arrived in the country since 2008 have not been allocated land and are expected to identify refugees with plots and live with them,” said Ms Kiama.

The Ifo II camp is expected to be occupied by about 40,000 refugees. This year’s theme was “One refugee without hope is one too many”.

A huge number of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan attended the function. The day was marked by performances by different groups dressed in their traditional attires.

Acting commissioner for refugee affairs Badu Katelo called on refugees and asylum seekers to register to avoid mistreatment and violation of their rights.

According to the acting commissioner, registration of refugees began on March 1, this year. This is being done in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

All immigrants are expected to have been registered by the end of July. “We have the presence of 500,000 refugees, causing a huge strain on resources,” said Mr Katelo.