Kenya's Refugees Act 2021 explained: status, rights and camps
Department of Refugee Services · sources read 4 Oct 2026
The Refugees Act 2021 (No. 10 of 2021) is Kenya's main refugee law and repealed the 2006 Act. It lets recognised refugees work, run a business or practise a profession, gives refugees and asylum seekers the right to ID documents, and bars sending anyone back to a country where they face persecution.
- Where
- Department of Refugee Services: registration in Kakuma and Dadaab camps, and offices in Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Nairobi (General Mathenge, Westlands). The Act is on refugee.go.ke.
Steps
- If you are seeking asylum, apply for refugee status. You get a temporary asylum seeker's pass valid for 90 days as proof that you applied.
- Refugees and asylum seekers have a right to identification and civil registration documents, which are enough to access rights and services.
- Once recognised as a refugee, you may take a job, run a business, or practise a profession or trade if Kenya recognises your qualifications.
- If you want to change where you live, you must notify the Commissioner for Refugee Affairs first.
Watch out
- A refugee who works without paying tax commits an offence under the Act.
- A refugee must not apply for a Kenyan ID card or passport. The fine can be up to KSh 500,000 or 3 years in jail.
- The Refugees Act 2006 no longer applies. It was repealed by the 2021 Act.
Who this covers
- Every refugee and every asylum seeker in Kenya
- A refugee is someone outside their country because of a well-founded fear of persecution for race, religion, sex, nationality, social group or political opinion
Official sources (3)
- The Refugees Act, 2021 (No. 10 of 2021), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 210 refugee.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- Acts, Regulations & Policies refugee.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026
- FAQs refugee.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026