About Us
Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) is a local non-governmental organization in Kenya working exclusively on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers, providing legal aid and counseling in the refugee status determination process and systematically monitoring and advocating the protection of refugee rights. RCK was initiated in 1998 in response to the increasingly complex refugee situation in Kenya. Externally, the conflict situation in the region was rapidly deteriorating, triggering a mass flow of refugees into the country. Internally, the prevalent socio-economic difficulties coupled with the sudden increase in the refugee population resulted in a hands-off approach in dealing with the emerging refugee and national issues. The Government did not assume active management of the refugee situation; instead, the responsibility for refugee management was left to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya. The absence of active government involvement in refugee administration led to a marked decline of the refugee situation. RCK emerged as a voice for refugees' concerns in Kenya.

UNIQUE ROLE OF RCK
RCK is distinct in the role that it plays in refugee welfare and protection of their rights. It is the only Kenyan organisation that focuses on refugee issues using a human rights and social justice approach. It is independent of the government and key players in refugee welfare, which gives RCK the freedom to advocate for refugee rights with an unbiased and impartial voice. Since its inception, the organisation has delivered its mission with measurable success. Through the Consortium's emphasis on networking with other local, regional and international organizations dealing with refugees, it has been able to cover a plethora of issues. These include legal reform, policy development, civic education, research and information dissemination, refugee empowerment and capacity building to promote the welfare of refugees. RCK focuses on advocacy around refugee issues and collaboration within and outside the sector, while still realizing the importance of the services delivered by others to alleviate the plight of refugees. The challenge now is to mainstream refugee issues in the national human rights agenda.

RCK's mission is to assist in the protection and promotion of refugee rights and welfare in Kenya and the wider Great Lakes region from a refugee rights and advocacy perspective. To achieve its mission, RCK has developed strategic objectives.

These include:

	Advocating for the development of effective policies and laws and the promotion of humane management of refugees and displaced persons.
	Providing legal and other referral services to refugees
	Mainstreaming refugee rights into the broader human rights agenda nationally, regionally and internationally
	Engaging in research, analysis and information dissemination to enhance action among policy makers and implementers around refugee issues
	Increasing, diversifying and stabilising income
	Maintaining sound administrative and management policies
	Developing and promoting a consistent public image of RCK

RCK pursues these objectives through three core programmes:
1. The Advocacy Programme
2. The Legal and Referral Programme
3. The Information and Research Programme

Some of the main activities carried out through the three programmes include:

	Advocacy on policy and legal issues, while working with the primary stakeholders including the Government, UNHCR, civil society and others.
	Civic education for both the public and refugees, towards promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence within and among the communities.
	Providing legal aid, legal representation and referral services in order to improve refugee access to justice and to material/social assistance.
	î Research and dissemination of information on refugee-related issues in the country, region and internationally.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
RCK has a Governance Board composed of 9 senior level professionals in the human rights, gender, media, refugee and legal fields. The board is responsible for policy direction of the organization. The Executive Director is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organization and is assisted by the Programmes Coordinator and the Administration & Finance Officer. A Programme Officer, assisted by one Assistant Programme Officer, heads each programme.

BACKGROUND
Kenya has nearly quarter a million refugees living within its borders. This is equivalent to about one-eighth of Nairobi's 2.5 million population. Only a little over half of them 'enjoy' the official status of refugee. This much-prized status is acquired only after undergoing a lengthy process of interviews and documentation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency that presently undertakes registration of asylum seekers. It is important to note that refugee status under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention can only be granted by the Government. UNHCR grants refugee status to asylum seekers under its mandate, only in the absence of Government structures to grant convention status.

Most refugees in Kenya live in the restricted confines of two designated camps situated in the harsh and hostile semi-desert of northern Kenya at Kakuma in Turkana District and Dadaab in Garissa district. The rest endure a hazardous, insecure existence as 'urban refugees', in the crowded slum areas of Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru among other urban areas.

In Nairobi, an estimated 60% of city residents live in poverty, lacking the basic necessities of water, sanitation and power; 45% of urban refugees live in Nairobi.
The majority of refugees cross over into Kenya from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Others come from further a field - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
As the numbers fleeing into Kenya increase, the resident population grows ever more resentful towards these strangers who, it is believed, crowd their living space and threaten their job security. In 1990 Kenya hosted a mere 14,400 refugees. A year later, 1991, the figure had jumped to 120,000 as an outcome of simultaneous upheavals occurring in neighboring countries. Within another year, 1992, numbers had surpassed an astronomical 400,000.
(UNHCR: The State of the World's Refugees 2000)

The ethnic clashes that occurred in Kenya's Rift Valley and Coast provinces in the 1990s, where thousands of Kenyans were displaced from their homes, heightened the feeling of insecurity and fear of 'outsiders' among local communities.

Since the change in government in 2002, the refugee sector has seen deliberate steps towards the reform of a previously neglected and mismanaged sector. These reforms have included tabling and debating the Refugees Bill in Parliament for the first time in the thirteen-year history of the draft legislation. Under the Bill, for the first time ever, refugees have access to an independent appellate body and further to the High Court with regard to appeals on decisions on their asylum claims.
In addition, registration and documentation of refugees is underway at the camps. Refugees are now being issued with alien identification cards, which will help to distinguish them from illegal immigrants.
Even with the progress that has been witnessed in the refugee sector, certain bottlenecks remain that undermine refugee management and continue to present grave uncertainty for many refugees seeking sanctuary in Kenya. There is need to put in place long term measures that will not only address these issues comprehensively, but will also promote the interests of the Kenyan people and the Kenyan economy.

EMERGING CONCERNS:
	The mandatory camp policy exerts tremendous pressure on Kenya's economy and ecosystem. While confined to the camps, refugees are entirely dependent on handouts and cannot contribute to the development of the areas in which they are hosted. In addition, the local communities hardly benefit from the presence of refugees within their localities through trade, cultural exchange and other social activities.
	Protracted conflicts and ceaseless flow of refugees has resulted in diminishing resources and dwindling international assistance. Africa's refugee crisis has lost priority on the international agenda, which has been coupled with a situation of donor fatigue.
	Local host communities are hostile and resentful toward the presence of refugees. The confinement of large numbers of refugees in one particular area for several years undermines the environment and the ecosystem of that area, and this has an impact on the host communities.
	Insecurity at the camps remains a major problem, particularly where some refugees crossing the border are not disarmed and are able to carry arms into the camps. This poses a risk for both the refugees and host communities. Further, the camps are located close to the borders and the borders are porous. This has facilitated the free movement of illegal arms, cross border raids and abductions.
	Refugee hosting regions remain among the least developed and poorest regions in Kenya, primarily due to neglect by the Government. The needs and concerns of the local population have been ignored for several years. This has been erroneously blamed on the presence of refugees and the refugee camps, which has served to feed tension between the local communities and refugees. The needs of refugee hosting communities will continue to be ignored unless they are addressed separately from the presence of refugees.

RCK, in addressing the emerging concerns, has focused its work on advocacy, legal aid, law reform lobbying, training of law enforcement agents and assisting refugees in court or in prisons. Projects currently underway that aim at addressing arising refugee concerns include: