Lack of IDs preventing refugees from owning businesses in Kenya - Refugee Services Commissioner

A lack of national identification documents is one of the main barriers preventing refugees from establishing businesses, building new lives and contributing to Kenya's society, says John Burugu, Commissioner at the Department for Refugee Services.

Speaking on Citizen TV's Daybreak Show on Friday, Burugu noted that despite Kenya providing the displaced persons with refugee IDs upon arrival, the documents are not recognised by the State in the event that the asylum seekers want to set up genuine businesses across the country.

"The major challenge is the aspect of ID documents. To run businesses in Kenya there are various aspects of identification that you need to have. Yes we provide them with IDs but the refugee ID is not recognised as an identification document for business transactions," said Burugu.

While noting that the input of refugees can be beneficial for host countries such as Kenya, Burugu stated that the government needs to introduce policies that will make it easier for them to set up businesses and access State services locally.

"As a government, we are supposed to do a policy shift and recognise the refugee ID as a document that facilitates the opening of companies and business transactions," he said. 

"We want them to pay taxes but we are also not supporting them when it comes to opening business."

Another way that the state can enable refugees access government services, Burugu added, is by introducing a digital services portal, akin to E-Citizen, which they can easily access from any part of the country.

"E-citizen provides about 5,000 government services.  If we introduce a platform that recognises the refugee ID and provides services to them they will be on equal footing with Kenyans," he said.