ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Refugees Act
28. Rights of and obligations of Refugees
Edition: 2022-12-31 · In force
28. Rights of and obligations of Refugees
(1)Subject to this Act, every refugee and every asylum seeker within Kenya shall be entitled to the rights and be subject—(a)to the duties contained in the UN Convention, its Protocol and the OAU Convention; and(b)all the laws in force in Kenya.(2)The Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette and in consultation with the relevant county governments, designate specific counties to host refugees.(3)The Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, designate places and areas in Kenya to be transit centres for purposes of temporarily accommodating refugees.(4)Subject to this Act, refugees shall be enabled to contribute to the economic and social development of Kenya by facilitating access to, and issuance of, the required documentation at both levels of Government.(5)Subject to the laws applicable and taking into special consideration the special circumstances of refugees, a refugee recognized under this Act shall have the right to engage individually or in a group, in gainful employment or enterprise or to practice a profession or trade where he holds qualifications recognized by competent authorities in Kenya.(6)A refugee and an asylum seeker shall have the right to identification and civil registration documents and such documents shall be sufficient to identify a refugee or asylum seeker for the purposes of access to rights and services under this Act and any other applicable law.(7)Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, and subject to the special circumstances of refugees, the Refugee Identity Card shall at a minimum have a similar status to the Foreign National Registration Certificate issued under section 56 (2) of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act (Cap. 170) for the purposes of accessing the rights and fulfilling obligations under this law.(8)A person from a Partner State of the East African Community who has been recognised as a refugee under this Act may opt to voluntarily give up his or her refugee status for the purposes of enjoying any of the benefits due to him or her under the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market, and any other relevant written law.