Date of publication:

01/09/2026

Kenya

Do domestic laws and policies provide for forcibly displaced and stateless persons to engage in self-employment?

ANALYSIS

Assessment by population

Refugees
Asylum-seekers
Analysis

According to article 28 (5) of the Refugees Act, recognized refugees are entitled to engage in gainful employment or enterprise or to practice a profession or trade individually or in a group. The cumulative reading of this provision with article 28 (1) (a) of the Refugees Act that states that refugees are entitled to the rights and subject to the duties in the UN Convention, its Protocol and the OAU Convention, may lead to the interpretation that refugees are entitled to treatment as favorable as possible and in any event not less favorable than accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances in regard to self-employment.  However, the available information on the practice of accessing self-employment shows that refugees are entitled to the same treatment as any other ordinary non-national.

In line with the Business Registration Services Act 2015 that lays down the regulations on registration of businesses and the administrative procedure of the Kenya Revenue Authority, foreigners, including refugees, can start a business under the category of company, individual, limited liability partnerships or partnerships. County governments are responsible for issuing licenses required to open businesses and are generally willing to do so. Accordingly, refugees are required to provide a copy of a refugee Id and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) PIN, location of the company among others. In addition, refugees are requested to pay a registration fee that varies depending on the nature and the size of the business and the rate is similar to all applicants. In practice, refugees engage in small and medium scale business enterprises such as running shops or hotels, small eaters and selling fabrics and clothes, cosmetics, mobile phones etc. both in urban and refugee camps.

    LAW & POLICY

    Related provisions of domestic law or policy

    The Refugee Act

    Legal provision

    Section 28 - Rights and obligations of Refugees

    Subject to this Act, every refugee and every asylum seeker within Kenya shall be entitled to the rights and be subject— (a) to the duties contained in the UN Convention, its Protocol and the OAU Convention; and (b) all the laws in force in Kenya. (2) The Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette and in consultation with the relevant county governments, designate specific counties to host refugees. (3) The Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, designate places and areas in Kenya to be transit centres for purposes of temporarily accommodating refugees. (4) Subject to this Act, refugees shall be enabled to contribute to the economic and social development of Kenya by facilitating access to, and issuance of, the required documentation at both levels of Government. (5) Subject to the laws applicable and taking into special consideration the special circumstances of refugees, a refugee recognized under this Act shall have the right to engage individually or in a group, in gainful employment or enterprise or to practice a profession or trade where he holds qualifications recognized by competent authorities in Kenya. (6) A refugee and an asylum seeker shall have the right to identification and civil registration documents and such documents shall be sufficient to identify a refugee or asylum seeker for the purposes of access to rights and services under this Act and any other applicable law. (7) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, and subject to the special circumstances of refugees, the Refugee Identity Card shall at a minimum have a similar status to the Foreign National Registration Certificate issued under section 56 (2) of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act (No. 12 of 2011) for the purposes of accessing the rights and fulfilling obligations under this law. (8) A person from a Partner State of the East African Community who has been recognised as a refugee under this Act may opt to voluntarily give up his or her refugee status for the purposes of enjoying any of the benefits due to him or her under the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market, and any other relevant written law.

    Section 29 - Non-refoulement

    No person shall be refused entry into Kenya, expelled, extradited from Kenya or returned to any other country or be subjected to any similar measure if, as a result of such refusal, expulsion, return or other measure, such person is compelled to return to or remain in a country where— (a) the person may be subject to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; or (b) the person's life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened on account of external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in part or whole of that country. (2) The benefit of subsection 1 may not, however, be claimed by a refugee or asylum seeker whom there are reasonable grounds for him or her being regarded as a danger to the national security of Kenya.

    Section 12 - Application for Recognition of Refugee Status:

    (1) A person who has entered Kenya and wishes to remain within Kenya as a refugee within the meaning of section 11 shall make an application for refugee status to the Commissioner within thirty days of entry into Kenya. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Commissioner may accept an application after the expiry of the period stipulated in subsection (1) if the applicant demonstrates sufficient cause for the delay. (3) An applicant under subsection (1) shall be permitted to remain in Kenya pending the determination of their application. (4) The Commissioner shall, upon receipt of an application under subsection (1), ensure that the applicant is informed of their rights and obligations under this Act in a language the applicant understands.