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Stateless at Home: Kenyan Somalis Struggle to Reclaim Citizenship from Refugee Records

Kenyans of Somali ethnicity who entered refugee camps have been struggling to get national identification documents. Credit: Jackson Okata/IPS

Kenyans of Somali ethnicity who entered refugee camps have been struggling to get national identification documents. Credit: Jackson Okata/IPS

By Jackson Okata
GARISSA, Kenya , Apr 8 2026 – In 2006, Amina Saida was only two years old when her parents moved to the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, near the border with Somalia.

The Dadaab refugee complex was established in 1991, when refugees fleeing the civil war in Somalia began crossing the border into Kenya. Over the years, thousands of Kenyan ethnic Somalis entered the refugee camp with the sole aim of accessing food aid, healthcare, and free education provided to refugees, while others saw an easier avenue of securing asylum and passage to the US and other European nations.

Just like Amina, thousands of Kenyan Somalis were taken into the refugee camp as children without their consent, and today they are trapped in a painful paradox of officially being recorded as refugees in Kenyan government databases and denied recognition as citizens of Kenya.

“I was told that my fingerprints were appearing in the refugee database when I went to apply for my national identity card in 2022. The registrar of persons informed me that they could not grant me an ID because I was from Somalia,” said Amina.

Amina told IPS that despite presenting her parents’ Kenyan identification cards to the registrar of persons, she has yet to receive the vital document.

“I am still waiting and hoping,” she said.

Residents of Garissa County, Kenya, attend a community sensitisation forum on identity and citizenship. Credit: Jackson Okata/IPS

Residents of Garissa County, Kenya, attend a community sensitisation forum on identity and citizenship. Credit: Jackson Okata/IPS

Without a national identity card or passport, one cannot access basic services such as opening bank accounts, securing business premises, receiving healthcare, pursuing higher education, or gaining formal employment.

According to Haki na Sheria, a human rights organisation based in Garissa, Kenya, more than 40,000 Kenyans may have been registered as refugees in Dadaab. The crisis of double registration for Kenyan ethnic Somalis became more evident when, in March 2025, Kenya rolled out the Shirika Plan, an ambitious plan aimed at integrating refugees into host communities.

The problems with double registration began in 2007, when UNHCR implemented the biometrics system. UNHCR introduced biometric registration to better manage the hundreds of thousands of refugees living in the camps and to address fraudulent cases that arose during food distribution. Fingerprints of all existing and new refugees were captured.

In 2007, when Kenya operationalised the Refugees Act of 2006, the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) took over refugee management from UNHCR and assumed control of the refugee database in 2016.

Caught in Legal Limbo

Hamdi Mohamed was among those who moved into the refugee camp to shield his seven children from the pangs of hunger.

“In 2005, I lost all my livestock due to prolonged drought. There was a lot of hunger, and I moved my family into Dadaab and registered them as refugees,” said Mohamed.

“For 20 years, I lived within the Dadaab refugee camp with my children. Now they have come of age, but their future seems bleak. They want life outside the camp, but they can only keep dreaming of it.”

Mohamed said his children are considered neither citizens nor refugees.

“We have no relatives in Somalia, where the government of Kenya is alleging we came from,” he said.

Without IDs, Mohamed’s seven children are forced to live a life full of restrictions. They cannot move about freely, register a SIM card, open a bank account, enter many government and corporate offices, or gain formal employment.

“I fear one day the government might wake up and declare us undocumented migrants and deport us to Somalia, a country we have never set foot in,” Mohamed told IPS.

For Adan Gure, registering as a refugee was his only hope of joining his wife abroad.

He moved into the refugee camp in 2005, five years after his wife and two children had registered as refugees. In 2007, his spouse and children secured asylum in Canada.

“I never imagined it would end this way. All I hoped for was joining my family in Canada,’’ Gure told IPS.

He added, “My parents are Kenyan, but I am now living like a stateless person in my country because Kenya doesn’t recognise me as a citizen, and I can’t go to Somalia, where I know no one.”

The UN’s sustainable development goals envision a world where every person can access quality education, health care, and economic opportunity. “Achieving these global ambitions requires a collective effort that includes the full integration of refugees – one of the most vulnerable yet resilient populations,” according to the International Catholic Migration Commission.

It is these rights that those caught in this double registration impasse are fighting.

Fight for the Right to Citizenship

In 2021, three Kenyans, Hamdi Muhumed, Sahal Amin and Deka Gure, all of whom had been registered as refugees, sued the government, accusing it of failing in its duty to ensure citizens have access to and enjoy socio-economic rights. The petitioners also argued that the inclusion of their children’s names in the refugee database, without verifying whether or not they were foreigners, was erroneous.

They asked the court to order the Kenyan government to remove their names from the refugee database and issue them Kenyan identification documents.

In January 2025, the Kenyan High Court in Garissa County ordered the Kenyan government to remove vetted Kenyan citizens from the refugee database and issue them with national identification documents within 60 days. The court ruled that failing to deregister these individuals violated their constitutional rights to citizenship and identity.

In his judgment, Kenyan High Court Judge John Onyiego affirmed that citizenship is a birthright that administrative mishaps cannot revoke.

Government Remedy

Kenya’s Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, Mercy Mwasaru, told IPS that the government detected the problem of double registration in 2016 when it took over the management of refugee affairs from UNHCR.

“Since 2019, the government of Kenya, through the departments of refugee services, national registration bureau and national intelligence service and in conjunction with UNHCR, has been carrying out a verification process of those Kenyans whose details appear in the refugee database,” said Mwasaru.

But since the vetting and verification process began, people like Adan who went through the rigorous vetting procedure are still waiting to shed their refugee status and be given national IDs.

According to Mwasaru, the exercise takes a long time because the security and intelligence personnel in the Kenyan government must be engaged to prevent fraud.

Since 2019, Mwasaru says they have cleared at least 14,000 Kenyans from the refugee database, and the department is currently working to clear the remaining 26,000 citizens, a process she says might take time.

“The process takes time because of the work involved, and it involves different agencies. But we will ensure that anyone who is a Kenyan citizen and who registered as a refugee is removed from the refugee register,” Mwasaru told IPS.

Gure says he was among the 14,000 Kenyans who underwent vetting and had their names removed from the refugee database, but since then, they have not been issued national identification cards.

“We were vetted in 2020 and told that the IDs would be out within three months, but that never happened,” Gure said.

He hopes that with the court ruling, the government might hasten the process.

“We are not giving up. Our citizenship is a right that cannot be taken away from us,” said Gure.

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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The Race Is On: Who Will Be the Next UN Secretary General?

The Race Is On: Who Will Be the Next UN Secretary General?

UN lobby with images of former UN secretaries-generals. Credit: United Nations

 
With the deadline for candidates’ nominations now passed, four names are officially in the frame. Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence size up the candidates.

By Felix Dodds and Chris Spence
APEX, North Carolina / SAN FRANCISCO, California, Apr 8 2026 – Let the race begin!
April 1st was the deadline for candidates to be nominated for Secretary-General. Was it a coincidence that the deadline was April Fool’s Day? Judging by the quality of the official candidates, we suspect so.

Before looking at the four official finalists, however, it’s worth examining the state of global politics, since this will certainly have an impact on the likely outcome.

We are currently living in one of the most unstable times since the Second World War. Multilateralism is under threat and the UN is facing significant political and financial turbulence. To its credit, the UN is attempting to address these challenges through the UN80 process, which is trying to repurpose it for the years ahead. However, as the world becoming increasingly multipolar.

As the previous global order, shaped largely by the U.S. and its western allies, recedes into the rear-view mirror, there will still be plenty for a new Secretary General to do. In short, she or he will inherit an institution and a staff that is unclear about exactly what their future role should be.

One critical issue when looking at the candidates is to understand that any of the Permanent Five members of the powerful UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the USA) can veto a candidate. Will any of them exercise that power? Recent history suggests they may. Russia in particular has recently increased its use of the veto, and the US and China have also done so on occasion, although the UK and France have not exercised their “rights” in several decades.

Do the P5 share the same outlook in terms of a future Secretary General? For better or worse, it looks increasingly like the “big five” are looking for more of a “Secretary” than a “General”. On that basis, finding common ground may be possible.

What’s more, there is a general expectation that the successful candidate will probably be from Latin America and the Caribbean. This is based on a general sense among UN member states that leadership rotates through the various regional groups and that it is Latin America and the Caribbean’s ‘turn’.

So far, there has been no public disagreement with this approach, although the regional rotations are considered more of a guideline than a hard rule, and there have been exceptions in the past. For instance, present UN Secretary General, António Guterres of Portugal, was appointed at a time when it was generally expected that the successful candidate would come from Eastern Europe.

Another consideration is gender. The last time a Secretary General was appointed, there was a strong push to appoint a woman. This did not happen, even though seven qualified women were nominated.

In the straw polls held prior to this hiring process, António Guterres was the only candidate who did not attract a veto. In part, this was because he was the most experienced candidate and the first former head of state to stand. However, calls for a woman leader are perhaps even stronger this time around, backed by a sense that such an appointment is long overdue.

So, who are the four official candidates, and what happens next?

The four candidates that have been nominated will each have a three-hour “hustings” on the 21st or 22nd of April, which will be available to view live on UN web TV.

The candidates are:

MICHELLE BACHELET
Nominated by Brazil and Mexico (although her own country, Chile, has withdrawn its support). Bachelet is a former President of Chile. Her party was the Socialist Party of Chile, which is a member of the Progressive Alliance. Her hustings appearance will be on April 21st 10am to 1pm Eastern time.

Advantages
Seniority: Bachelet has held the top job in Chile not once, but twice. Not only that, but she has also held two senior roles within the UN. Her experience has been at the highest level, and her networks are impressive. It is hard to imagine someone with a more appropriate mix of expertise.

UN Credentials: As a former head of both UN Women and the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Bachelet’s insider knowledge is considerable. She would know how to navigate the organization effectively from her first day in the job.

A Female Leader: Michelle Bachelet would be a strong candidate to break the glass ceiling and become the first female leader of the UN.

A Latina Leader: With the tradition that the UN Secretary-General is chosen by rotating through the various UN regions, Bachelet would likely satisfy those who believe it is Latin America and the Caribbean’s “turn” to nominate Guterres’ successor.

Proven Impact: There are few potential candidates who could point to such broad impact both as a national leader and during two separate stints in high-level UN roles, especially in the fields of human rights and supporting vulnerable populations. Given the unprecedented uncertainty swirling around international diplomacy these days, a figure with a reputation as a “doer” may be welcomed.

Disadvantages

Objections from the Big Five? Bachelet has made comments in the past, particularly during her time as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that may not have been welcomed by specific UN member states. With her own country withdrawing its support for her, it may make difficulties for her candidacy.

In spite of Bachelet’s obvious credentials, if even one of the “Big Five” members of the Security Council shows sensitivity to her past human rights comments, Bachelet may have her work cut out to change their views. Still, her credentials are impressive and even opponents might have a hard time making a case against her.

RAFAEL GROSSI
Nominated by Argentina, Italy, and Paraguay, Grossi is the present Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is an Argentine career diplomat. His hustings are on April 21st from 3pm to 6pm.

Advantages

Seniority: He has held the post of Argentina Ambassador to Austria, Belgium, Slovenia, Slovakia, and International Organizations in Vienna, and the permanent representative of the United Nations Office at Geneva. While not as politically senior as some of the competition, his track record in diplomacy is certainly strong.

UN Credentials: He is the current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since December 3, 2019.

Proven Impact: Grossi has dealt with nuclear safety in conflict zones, doing shuttle diplomacy to maintain communications between warring parties. His work includes preventing nuclear accidents, particularly at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. He has also, through his “Atoms for Peace and Development”, modernized the IAEA, addressing issues of climate change, poverty, and fostering nuclear technology for development.

Latin Leader: Grossi also ticks the regional box, since he is from the Latin American and Caribbean Group.

Disadvantages

Objections from the Big Five? It’s hard to say. In spite of an exemplary record as a diplomat, in recent years Iranian officials accused him of aligning too closely with U.S. and Israeli interests. This is something Grossi’s supporters deny, and it is unclear how other in the P5, particularly China and Russia, might view the situation.

Not A Female Leader: Clearly not a woman, although it is unclear if this would be a deciding factor or deal breaker for the P5 under its current political leadership.

REBECCA GRYNSPAN
Grynspan was nominated by Costa Rica. She is the current Secretary-General of UNCTAD and a former Vice President of Costa Rica. She was a member of the National Liberation Party, which is a member of Socialist International. Hustings April 22nd, 10 am to 1 pm.

Advantages

Seniority: Grynspan may not have been a president or prime minister, but as Vice President of Costa Rica she climbed close to the summit of her country’s political mountain.

UN Experience: As the first female Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Grynspan has already broken one glass ceiling within the United Nations. She would also bring more than twenty years’ experience within the UN system, something that would surely be viewed as an asset during these uncertain times.

Additionally, she is familiar with the internal workings of the UN in Geneva, New York and across Latin America, giving her insights into decision making at both headquarters and regionally. This breadth of experience within the UN could be useful to any future UN leader.

Proven Impact: Grynspan is viewed as someone who can have an impact, a perception recognized by Forbes magazine, which named her among the 100 most powerful women in Central America four years running. She was also instrumental in the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative, agreed by Russia, Türkiye, and Ukraine, that has allowed millions of tons of grain and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine’s ports, playing an important role in global food security.

Connections: Grynspan has had many years of experience operating at the regional and global levels. Her networks may arguably not be as wide as some other candidates’, but would still provide a good platform for her to succeed.

A Female Leader: Grynspan offers the chance to break the glass ceiling and become the first female leader of the UN.

Climate and the Environment: Although Grynspan has strong credentials on trade, finance and development, it is only in recent years that she has taken a higher profile on climate change and some of the other big environmental issues of our time. Interestingly, this may be an advantage at this moment in time, since more some P5 members are now either lukewarm or hostile to candidates with a progressive track record on climate change.

Disadvantages

Peace and Security: Peace, security, and conflict resolution have not featured prominently in her background. If the UN Security Council members are looking for expertise in this area, might Grynspan’s relative lack of experience be considered a possible weakness?

Name Recognition: Although she is widely respected in her fields and across the UN, Grynspan may not have the same sort of name recognition among the public as some of the other candidates.

Objections from the Big Five? How might Grynspan’s political background play out in the current politically-charged atmosphere? Will her center-left credentials find a sympathetic audience among the current P5, or might some in the current conservative US administration object?

MACKY SALL
Nominated by Burundi, Sall is the former President of Senegal and Chairman of the African Union. Politically, his party (Alliance for the Republic) is a member of Liberal International. Hustings April 22nd, from 3pm to 6pm.

Advantages

Seniority: As the former President of Senegal (2012-2024) and former Prime Minister (2004-2007), he has the seniority that a UN Secretary General might well need these days.

Proven Impact: As Chairperson of the African Union, he succeeded in lobbying for the AU to join the G20. He has mediated in regional crises.

Objections from the Big Five? Sall is a center-right politician known to have forged positive ties with France’s Emmanual Macron. Will a right-wing administration in the US be drawn to a candidate also on the conservative side of the political spectrum?

Disadvantages

UN Credentials: Sall cannot claim strong UN credentials, but has been the chairperson of the African Union and a Special Envoy for the Paris Pact for the People and the Planet.

Not A Female Leader: While he would disappoint the many voices calling for the next UN head to be a woman, it’s unclear that would be a reason for any of the P5 to veto.

Not from Latin America: How important is it that the next Secretary-General be from the Latin American and Caribbean Group? At this point, it is hard to say if rotating around the regions “fairly” will be a big issue for members states. As noted earlier, it was not a deal breaker last time around.

A Late Entrant?

What if all four official candidates fail to win over the P5? We have seen in the past that new candidates appear after the nomination deadline. In fact, the process was only truly formalized as recently as 2015. Before that, the selection of a new UN leader was known for being opaque and characterized by back-room discussions and P5 deal making.

If consensus among the P5 cannot be reached, other candidates must emerge. Possibilities from the Latin American and Caribbean Group might include Ivonne Baki (Ecuador), Alicia Bárcena (Mexico), David Choquehuanca (Bolivia), María Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), Mia Mottley (Barbados), and Achim Steiner (Brazil).

There may also be interest from beyond the region, such as Amina Mohammed (Nigeria), who is the UN’s current Deputy Secretary-General. Additionally, Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria) and Vuk Jeremić (Serbia)—both former center-right European politicians with strong international credentials—have also been mentioned.

However, if the four official candidates all fail to find favor, then appointing a successor that all the P5 can agree on may take some deft diplomatic manoeuvring. At this point, the outcome of such haggling is pretty much anyone’s guess.

Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence have been involved with UN policy making since the 1990s. They recently wrote Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations: A Guide to Protecting Our Planet (Routledge, 2025) and co-edited Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage (Routledge, 2022).

IPS UN Bureau

 


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