Country Profile: Kenya

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Statistical profile
Immigration policy of Kenya
Kenyan citizenship policy
Consequences of movements
Conclusion
References

Introduction

It’s notable to mention that each country in the world has a profile; the country profile acts as an easy way and instant guide of summarizing the country’s political, historical, economic, geographical, statistical and international relations among other factors (nationsencyclopedia.com, 2011).

Statistical profile

Kenya is the selected country from Africa which this paper will focus on during this discussion; Kenya is an African country located in the east of Africa and Nairobi is its capital city, it covers 582650 sq km (nationsencyclopedia.com, 2011). According to the latest census carried out by the government in 2009, Kenya has a population size of 38.6 million (bbc.com, 2010).

The level of immigration in Kenya is at present very high since the country is currently experiencing high influx of Somali refugees seeking asylum in Kenya fleeing from hunger and terrorism from the alshabaab militia group back in Somali.

Notable to mention is that Kenya is the country that has the world largest refugee’s camp that comprise Dadaad and Kakuma refugee’s camps which house large numbers of Somali, Elitrean, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Rwandan, Burundian and many small groups of refugees from different nationalities (Unhcr.org, 2010).

According to UNHCR, Kenya is experiencing huge numbers of both refugees and asylum seekers with Somali’s leading with a total of 404,000 refugees, 32,500 from Ethiopia, 25,000 from Sudan and a total of 20,000 refugees from various other countries. Nevertheless, the country also hosts a big number of asylum seekers for example 2,500 are from Congo, 1,000 from Sudan and about 2,000 from various countries (Unhcr.org, 2010).

Immigration policy of Kenya

The Kenyan immigration policy states that, “anyone apart from the excluded categories, on arrival to the Kenyan border must personally report his/her arrival to the immigration officer and personally complete and submit an entry declaration form 1” (immigration.go.ke, 2011).

If the person fails to follow this policy he/she is guilty of an offence; the person will have to then apply for an entry permit to the immigration officer which will be issued to him/her when successful at a specified fee depending on the duration of his/her stay. Any immigrant who attempt to enter Kenya through other place apart from the specific designated entry roots specified by the government is guilty of an offence (Kenyarep-jp.com, 2010).

“Any person immigrating to Kenya for the sake of education in any educational institution is eligible for pupil/student pass once the institution grants him admission letter” (immigration.go.ke, 2011).

The person must make an application for the pupil pass to the immigration officer whom will grant a pupil pass when satisfied that the pupil has been accepted by the educational institute which is approved by the ministry of education and that there is adequate accommodation for the pupil at the institute so that the student does not deprive Kenyan citizens for accommodation. “Any person in charge of a training institution who will register a foreign student without pupils or student pass shall be guilty of an offence” (Kenyalaw.org, 2010).

The country policies also allows immigrants who want to visit Kenya for pleasure to apply for visitors pass subject to indicated terms and conditions, where he/she is supposed to enter Kenya and stay there for a period not exceeding six months from the date of his entry (immigration.go.ke, 2011); also the holder of the visitors pass must not accept or engage himself in any paid or unpaid employments without a letter from the immigration officer failure to which he/she is liable for prosecution (Kenyahighcommission.net, 2010).

Kenyan citizenship policy

According to the Kenyan constitution section 87(1) and 89, “A person automatically becomes Kenyan citizen by birth” (Kenyalaw.org, 2010) the other way one can become a Kenyan citizen is by registration. Section 91 of the constitution allows only wives married to Kenyan citizens to apply for citizenship (Guidetokenya.com, 2011).

She must have marriage certificate, national passport, her husband’s national identity card and application fees of 15,000 Kenyan shillings (immigration.go.ke, 2011). Persons whose parents are Kenyan citizen are allowed to apply for citizenship with a birth certificate, parent’s national identity card, national passport and application fees of 18,000 Kenyan shillings (immigration.go.ke, 2011).

Finally, according to section 93 of the constitution, “one can become a Kenyan citizen through naturalization” (Immigration.go.ke, 2011). The person must be aged 21 and above with adequate knowledge of Kiswahili language and must have stayed in Kenya for a period of 12 months before applying for citizenship (Immigration.go.ke, 2011).

Note that “Citizens of the commonwealth and African declared countries are also eligible for citizenship application under section 92(1) of the constitution” (Rcbowen.com, 2011). All they need is to certify the following; have a legal entry permit, must have resided in Kenya for a period of five years before applying for citizenship, must have a certificate of good conduct and a national passport with 50,000 application fees (immigration.go.ke, 2011).

But, persons from non-commonwealth countries who intend to apply for citizenship must meet one important condition which requires that they “must have resided in the country for a continuous duration of seven years before date of application” (immigration.go.ke, 2011).

Immigrants who wish to become Kenyan citizens will have to obey the policies of citizenship according to sections 91,92 and 93 of the Kenyan constitution (Guidetokenya.com, 2011). For example those becoming citizens under section 92(1) must have resided in Kenya for five years before applying for citizenship while under section 93 must have resided in the country for 12 months before applying for citizenship (Kenyainformationguide.com, 2010).

Kenya as a country does not inhibit anyone from becoming a citizen or discriminate them through race, tribe, ethnic group or nationality (Immigration.go.ke, 2011). It allows anyone who qualifies under the constitution to become citizen. But the only category of people excluded are those who actively take part in wars against Kenya especially enemies of Kenya during wars including terrorists; dual citizenship rejection and those rejected by the parliament of Kenya (Immigration.go.ke, 2011).

Consequences of movements

Immigration of persons in Kenya has several consequences to the country; the best example is the current influx of the Somali refugees (Guardian.com, 2011). This has brought security alerts allover the country especially the border due to fear of Alshabaab militia immigrating to Kenya like refugees and causing terrorism attacks.

This group is believed to be connected with the world number one terrorist group Al-Qaida. The other challenge is that settlement of these immigrants in Kenya continues to stretch the available resources. But on the other hand, this trend has contributed to numerous job opportunities for Kenyans who have been employed as staffs in the refugee’s camps thus benefiting local citizens.

Finally, the local citizens of Kenya have also benefited from the immigrants by imitating their cultures practices and traditions for example the Somali and Sudanese songs and dances are now being presented by Kenyans during the drama and music festivals. Many Kenyans have intermarried with immigrants who then become Kenyan citizen resulting to community’s diversity and production of hybrid offspring’s.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Kenya is one of countries currently receiving immigrants from other countries with the largest number being refugees. Economically, the country has benefited a lot from the immigrants since many Kenyans have been employed and increased taxes have also boosted the economy of the country. Kenya has many businesses run by immigrants such as Dalamare farm and export flowers and horticultures firms which employs thousands of Kenyans.

References

Bbc.com, 2010. Kenyans defends tribal census. Web.

Enallexperts.com, 2009. Kenyan citizenship. Web.

Fco.com, 2011. Country profile Kenya. Web.

Geohive.com, 2009. Kenyan population statistics. Web.

Immigration.go.ke, 2011. Kenyan immigration policies Web.

Kenya-information-guide.com, 2009. Kenya population information guide. Web.

Kenyalaw.org, 2010. The complete Laws of Kenya. Web.

Rcbowen.com, 2011. Persons eligible to be registered as Kenyan citizen. Web.

Unhcr.org, 2010. Refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya Web.

Kenyahighcommission.net, 2010. Work entry permits Web.

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