{"id":707454,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/707454/?format=json","text_counter":176,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. (Ms.) F.I. Ali","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13152,"legal_name":"Fatuma Ibrahim Ali","slug":"fatuma-ibrahim-ali"},"content":"camp that Hon. Shidiye has described. This Bill is very comprehensive. It has a series of progressive provisions. People do not become refugees by choice, but circumstances force them. Nobody chooses to be a refugee because it is not a good way of living. People are forced out of their countries. You can imagine yourself as a Kenyan with a very established business and property - I pray it does not happen to us - and one day you are forced to leave your country because of fear, persecution, death and other threats. We need to internalise the fact that anybody can be a refugee any time. It is a very horrifying life. It is never a choice or option. This Bill has laid down structures. It seeks to establish a secretariat, an appeals board and an eligibility committee. It gives a process that is formal and recognised in law. Eighty per cent of the provisions in this law are well articulated and are anchored in the African Union (AU) Convention and the Geneva Convention of 1951. They are attached and made reference to in the Bill. This law recognises that there is protection of dignity and assistance to refugees and other asylum seekers. Kenya should be recognised as having hosted large numbers of refugees for a long time. Kenya has tried its best to provide assistance and protection with the support of the international community. The Bill is trying to institutionalise the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and also give them some duties. Refugees also have duties to the country that is hosting them in terms of adhering to the law of the country, respecting systems and other structures. This law formalises access to land, education, work or employment and citizenship or naturalisation. I interacted with refugees when I was a commissioner and when I was working in a refugee camp. Back in 1993, I met an old man who was a refugee in Daadab Refugee Camp, who wanted to travel outside the country for treatment. He did not have any documents to travel out of the country and he was dehumanised and his dignity was not protected. He felt helpless and was shuttling from one office to another to secure travel documents. This law recognises that refugees need to travel outside the host country. There are processes to appeal and present their application. With regard to naturalisation and citizenship, the law has clearly stated how a refugee who has stayed in a country for a certain period of time can apply for citizenship. When you allow people to follow the law and benefit from the law, fears, issues of insecurity and illegal issues will diminish. The person will look forward to being naturalised if they stay long in the country. There is an opportunity for them in law to apply for citizenship, work harder and invest in the country where they are being hosted rather than having fear, being intimidated and sometimes having uncertainties of being repatriated by force. Host communities in this country have definitely suffered. The refugees also bring a lot of good things to the country. The communities hosting refugees have also benefited from the programmes, activities and the investment that refugees have brought. If you visit Daadab Refugee Camp now and compare it with how it was in 1993, it is totally different. Right now, huge investments are taking place in terms of real estate, construction, employment and schools which have totally transformed and changed the area for the better. This has been because of the presence of refugees. We need to shed off the notion of thinking that it is negative to host refugees and recognise that refugees are useful investors, professionals and do good things. There are certain things that the international community has not done in terms of supporting the hosting countries like Kenya. They are required in law to invest in certain social programmes in areas that are hosting refugees. The international community has failed us, to a certain extent, by failing to invest and support the host countries in terms of financial programmes. I am a witness that sometimes host countries like Kenya struggle hard to offer The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."}