Project Profile: How Kenyans Were Profiled Into Statelessness
Published: 31/May/2026
Source: The Elephant (Nairobi)
In this fourth part of the Project Profile investigation into the use of biometrics in the humanitarian sector in Kenya, Naipanoi Lepapa looks at how the UNHCR’s sharing of biometric data with the Kenyan government led to the violation of the human rights of both Kenyans and refugees.
Naipanoi Lepapa
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deployed its biometrics in a grey zone. The Data Protection Act, which requires that data controllers and processors obtain consent from the data subject before collecting, using, or disseminating the information, was enacted in 2019.
The UNHCR also adopted a data protection policy in 2015 (upgraded in 2022). The policy requires the agency to inform a data subject in a way that is comprehensible to them, the specific purpose for which their personal data will be processed, whether the data will be transferred to third parties, or whether the data is being collected by partners on behalf of the UNHCR.
A data subject has a right of access to correction or deletion of their data and to submit a complaint with the UNHCR, an option that was never made available to any of the double-registered persons interviewed before their data was shared with the government.
Sources said they wouldn’t have registered as refugees had they been informed about the risks. They were also never given the option to refuse or to opt out of the registration while still being eligible to receive aid.
Read further: https://www.theelephant.info/investigations/2026/05/31/project-profile-how-kenyans-were-profiled-into-statelessness/