Construction of Refugees and Asylum Seeking in Kenya: A Historical Appraisal

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VI, June 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Construction of Refugees and Asylum Seeking in Kenya: A Historical Appraisal

Lilian Tunai Mulati
Department of International Relations, Conflict and Strategic Studies, Kenyatta University, Kenya

Abstract: – The magnitude of refugee and asylum seekers influx in recent years has generated urgent concern throughout the world, widely perceived as an unprecedented crisis. These has elicited academic as well as empirical researches which are tied to humanitarian responses namely to inform or evaluate interventions. For instance, the dominant researches on the refugees in Kenya focus on the Somalia refugees and the circumstances that are surrounding them such as repatriation or security. Whereas this kind of focus is contemporary and urgent, an informative research on refugees and asylum seekers need to focus on the wider refugee situation in a historical context. To be able to understand the current refugee issues in Kenya there is need to go back to the historical appraisal. The study therefore sought to offer a historical appraisal of the refugee situation in Kenya. To achieve this, the study adopted historical research approach to collect and analyze data. The study found out that colonialism set a foundation for current refugee situation in Africa. The issue of internally displaced person in Kenya is indeed one of the colonial legacies. Colonialism has also been linked to protracted conflicts that have characterized the post-independence period and have been the main cause of population flights to Kenya. In addition to that independent Africa experienced a growing trend of armed conflicts arising out of weak political structures constructed by the colonial regimes. Many political analysts argue that most of these post-independence armed conflicts have resulted to refugees and asylum seekers are a result of colonial legacy.

Key words: Forced displacement, internally displaced person, refugee, asylum seeker

I. INTRODUCTION

Forced displacement refers to an involuntary movement of a person or people from their home or state as a result of issues like violence, natural disasters or persecution. A person experiencing forced displacement may be referred to as an internally displaced person if he or she has not crossed an internationally recognized border; a refugee is one who has crossed an international border and is receiving legally defined protection, he or she has a right to be protected by the host country and cannot be forced to return home whereas an asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection from danger in their home country but whose claim for refugee status has not been finally decided by the host country (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Master Glossary of Terms, 2006).

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