Refugee Governance and Encampment Fantasies in Kenya

Abstract

This chapter addresses Kenya and its hosting of refugees for close to thirty years. Keeping in mind the various incongruities concerning refugee management among the East African Community (EAC), global aid, and the Government of Kenya (GOK), the chapter looks at the Kenyan Refugee Act of 2006 and the Tripartite Agreement among the GOK, the government of Somalia, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The chapter also highlights some key organizations that assist in refugee governance. Unlike the EU, Kenya relies on a variety of international organizations to govern refugees, such as the International Rescue Committee, the International Organization for Migration, and various UN agencies. The chapter is concerned with the ways that refugees are increasingly seen as a burden as media attention has pivoted to Europe and international aid money has dried up. In turn, some refugees are removed from Kenya's camps and returned to Somalia. Meanwhile, neoliberal policies have shifted from welfare in encampment to integration, thereby opening up refugee camps to private actors, microfinance agencies, and fintech-driven solutions for poverty alleviation. In mirroring EU policies, the chapter is similarly focused on detention, deportation, and surveillance.