Somali/ Oromo Refugees in Nairobi: Creating Pathways for Dignity and Independence

At Eastleigh Community Center, the Refugee Empowerment Program provides basic guidelines that empower the Refugee women and youth Economically

Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have sought asylum in Nairobi, Kenya.  For almost two decades, many of these refugees have been successful entrepreneurs, building businesses that not only provide a living for their families but also sometimes employ members from the local Kenyan community.  Far from being passive recipients of international humanitarian aid, many Somalis have been able to turn crumbling urban environments into centers of economic activity.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Eastleigh or “Little Mogadishu,” a low-income commercial center just outside of Nairobi.  

What most Somali refugees lack now is official documentation and formal recognition from the Government of Kenya (GOK) that they have a right to live and work outside of the sprawling refugee camps.  The recent announcement by the GOK that they plan to engage in a large scale registration of refugees in Nairobi that will result in the issuance of standardized documentation is a welcome step forward.  This effort, if fully realized, will undoubtedly provide enhanced protection for Somali and other refugees living in cities.
 
There is also a wide variety of smaller scale trade-networks and businesses in which the majority of refugees work, including large numbers of women. Through the Refugee Empowerment Program, Eastleigh Community Center mobilizes the needy refugees, organizes them into groups and engages them in a number of social and economic empowerment activities.

Members of Iftin engage in 'Bag Farming' a local initiative where they can engage in kitchen farming while utilizing minimal space. 

Despite their economic successes and self-sufficiency, Somalis suffer from constant police harassment and abuse.  Every refugee living in Eastleigh has a story about being harassed by the police and threatened with arrest and detention.  In many cases, refugees will offer up their hard earned daily wages in order to avoid prolonged detention and possible deportation or forced return to Somalia.  When it comes to extortion and bribes, there is no better “market” for the Kenyan police than Eastleigh. 

That is why it is so important that the Government of Kenya meet its 100 day goal of setting up a registration process for these refugees.  The issuance of documentation will, in the long term, help protect Somalis from corrupt and opportunistic police who currently view refugees as a source of supplemental income.  It will provide the GOK with greater knowledge of who is residing in Nairobi.  Refugee registration will hopefully also lead toward a more coherent government policy toward refugees living in cities.  The process has the potential to officially register refugees as residing in Nairobi—changing a decades-long policy that requires refugees in Kenya to live in camps. If implemented well, it could also ensure greater freedom of movement for refugees between cities and the camps.  Freedom of movement is essential because it enables economic activity like the kind that has transformed Eastleigh.  Economic activity in turn, enables refugee families to live in dignity—independent from aid.