WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have sought asylum in Nairobi, Kenya.  For almost two decades, many of these refugees have been successful entrepreneurs, building businesses that not only provide a living for their families but also sometimes employ members from the local Kenyan community.  Far from being passive recipients of international humanitarian aid, many Somalis have been able to turn crumbling urban environments into centers of economic activity.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Eastleigh or “Little Mogadishu,” a low-income commercial center just outside of Nairobi. 

What most Somali refugees lack now is official documentation and formal recognition from the Government of Kenya (GOK) that they have a right to live and work outside of the sprawling refugee camps.  The recent announcement by the GOK that they plan to engage in a large scale registration of refugees in Nairobi that will result in the issuance of standardized documentation is a welcome step forward.  This effort, if fully realized, will undoubtedly provide enhanced protection for Somali and other refugees living in cities.

Throughout the 1990s Eastleigh was transformed, largely by Somali businessmen, from a residential community to the commercial center of Eastlands, and increasingly, of much of Nairobi.  These refugees bought up residential blocs and turned many of them into multi-million shilling retail malls and commercial enterprises.  Examples abound and include Garissa Lodge, Liban Shopping Complex, and Baraka Bazaar.  These discount retail malls now draw Kenyans from all over Nairobi.  In addition to individual consumers, larger commercial businesses and medium-sized traders also rely on retailers in Eastleigh to purchase a wide variety of items at cheaper costs. From hardware stores to fruit and vegetable stands, the merchandise and produce is increasingly purchased from refugees in Eastleigh.

There is also a wide variety of smaller scale trade-networks and businesses in which the majority of refugees work, including large numbers of women.  Despite the comparatively glamorous malls, most Somali refugees living in Eastleigh are economically poor. Some survive by working for other more wealthy Somalis. Others, including many women, are able to open their own roadside stands selling fabrics, textiles, undergarments, scarves, shoes, perfume, dishware, music tapes and CDs, fruits and vegetables, electronics, coffee, and tea. Many engage in the rather lucrative business of selling miraa, a mild narcotic.  Women especially do washing and other household chores for wealthier Somalis often in exchange for rent and/or food. There are many Somali-owned telephone calling centers and internet cafes. Some are taxi drivers, shuttling customers up and down the busy commercial thoroughfare and throughout the city.

Despite their economic successes and self-sufficiency, Somalis suffer from constant police harassment and abuse.  Every refugee living in Eastleigh has a story about being harassed by the police and threatened with arrest and detention.  In many cases, refugees will offer up their hard earned daily wages in order to avoid prolonged detention and possible deportation or forced return to Somalia.  When it comes to extortion and bribes, there is no better “market” for the Kenyan police than Eastleigh. 

That is why it is so important that the Government of Kenya meet its 100 day goal of setting up a registration process for these refugees.  The issuance of documentation will, in the long term, help protect Somalis from corrupt and opportunistic police who currently view refugees as a source of supplemental income.  It will provide the GOK with greater knowledge of who is residing in Nairobi.  Refugee registration will hopefully also lead toward a more coherent government policy toward refugees living in cities.  The process has the potential to officially register refugees as residing in Nairobi—changing a decades-long policy that requires refugees in Kenya to live in camps. If implemented well, it could also ensure greater freedom of movement for refugees between cities and the camps.  Freedom of movement is essential because it enables economic activity like the kind that has transformed Eastleigh.  Economic activity in turn, enables refugee families to live in dignity—independent from aid.