Navigating the legal landscape of double registration in Kenya
Published: 1/May/2024
Source: Forced Migration Review
FMR 73 – Digital disruption and displacement
By Wangui Gitahi
Registration on the database of refugees in Kenya has placed Kenyan nationals at risk of statelessness. This article discusses how this came about and considers the importance of data security, privacy and subject rights.
Over 40,000 Kenyans are estimated to be victims of double registration, where their fingerprints appear in the database of refugees managed by UNHCR and the Kenyan government. This means that, although they are entitled to Kenyan citizenship, they cannot acquire national identity cards because they appear in the refugee database, leaving them in a form of registration limbo. They cannot enjoy the full rights entitled to either refugees or Kenyans.
The national identity card and passport are the two documents that prove citizenship. When a person applies to the Kenyan government to obtain these documents, the government checks to see if their fingerprints match prints already in the UNHCR and government refugee database. If the prints are already in the refugee database, even if the person is not actually a refugee or is entitled to Kenyan citizenship, they will be denied Kenyan identity documents. This puts victims and their children at risk of statelessness.
Read further: https://www.fmreview.org/digital-disruption/gitahi/