Refugees and Asylum Seekers

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($310) or six months in prison or both. The Government deployed managers to the two major camps but did not give notice in the Gazette. Pre-1990 refugees were eligible for international travel documents from the Government and UNHCR processed nearly 60 requests for refugees it recognized under its mandate but authorities generally did not consider applications from Somalis. Jobs Right to Earn a Livelihood Refugees recognized by UNHCR were not eligible for work permits and it was unlawful for them to engage in economic activity. Police and local council law enforcement occasionally harassed and extorted bribes from those who attempted petty trade. Kenya maintained reservations on the 1951 Convention’s right to work but only to allow protectionist restrictions on refugee employment for four years instead of the three the Convention allowed and to reject its requirement to give sympathetic consideration to assimilating refugee rights to those of nationals. It was still obliged to accord refugees “the most favorable” treatment accorded to nationals of foreign countries. Under the Immigration Act, the Government allowed class M work permits to refugees it recognized prior to 1990 but it did not issue new work permits nor did it renew expired ones in 2007. The Refugees Act subjected refugees to the same wage-earning employment restrictions as other foreigners and called upon the Commissioner to ensure that refugee economic activities did not have a negative impact upon host communities. Kenya’s reservation to the 1951 Convention’s extension of social security and compensation for death from job-related injuries and diseases was only that it apply them “as far as the law allows.” The reservation, however, did not cover the Convention’s requirement that Kenya extend equal treatment to refugees under its labor legislation. Nevertheless, most refugees did not enjoy such protection. They also lacked documentation to acquire land, bank accounts, vehicles, and other assets. 2+5=7 D Public Relief and Education While the first of thousands of Somali asylum seekers who entered after the border closure could register with UNHCR for food and medical services in the camps, authorities halted this by June. Malnutrition rates in children under 5 were more than 22 percent in Dadaab and nearly 16 percent in Kakuma. The anemia rate for children under 5 was 78 percent and nearly 73 percent among women. Officials from UNHCR, Kenya, and Sudan restricted education for Sudanese refugees to encourage them to repatriate. Camp residents received free health services, but if refugees used public services outside the camps without a referral, the facilities would charge them as foreigners. The Government provided the same free primary education to both refugees and nationals but some schools charged refugees fees. Kenya did not include refugees in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper it prepared for international donors, but its UN Development Assistance Framework for 2009-2013 included implementation of the Refugees Act and refugee governance in its first priority area, Improving Governance and the Realization of Human Rights. The Refugees Act also called upon the Commissioner for Refugee Affairs to initiate projects promoting harmony between host communities and refugees and to advise the immigration minister on soliciting funds for refugee programs that helped host communities. Kuwait Refugees and Asylum Seekers: 51,000 Iraq 45,000 Former Palestine 6,000 1951 Convention: No 1967 Protocol: No UNHCR Executive Committee: No Population: 2,800,000 GDP: $111.3 billion GDP per capita: $39,800 Kuwait . Statistics . Introduction Although Kuwait continued to reject categorically Iraqi asylum seekers, it hosted around 45,000 Iraqis most of whom entered on 3-month visit visas and then overstayed. An estimated 6,000 Palestinians lived in Kuwait, many of them having arrived between 1948 and 1967, although the Government considered them expatriates. Kuwait hosted an undetermined number of Ahwazi Arabs from Iran. Refoulement/ Physical Protection There were no reports of refoulement in 2007. Kuwait did not deport persons who claimed to fear persecution in their home countries. There were no reports of wrongful death 109
of or injury to any refugees or asylum seekers in Kuwait. The number of Iraqis contacting the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UN- B HCR) continued to increase throughout 2007. In January, UNHCR estimated at 30,000 the number of Iraqis on visit visas, which offered the only way to enter Kuwait for asylum. Only 300 Iraqis had registered with UNHCR at the beginning of the year, but as many as 10 new cases opened each month, with most of the newcomers entering on 3-month visit visas. Many Iraqis returned to their country after their visas expired, reentering later to avoid violating Kuwaiti residency laws. Others contacted UNHCR, which intervened to prevent Kuwait from deporting asylum seekers. Since Kuwait immigration regulations prohibited local settlement, UNHCR submitted the cases for resettlement to third countries. Kuwait was party to neither the 1951Convention relating to the Status of Refugees nor its 1967 Protocol. There was no national system to determine refugee status, but the Government worked with UNHCR to allow some protection to refugees and asylum seekers. Kuwait ratified the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its two Protocols (the Protocol of Suppression and Punishment of Trafficking of Women and Children as well as the Protocol against Emigrant Trafficking). Kuwait was a destination country for trafficked persons, primarily from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines but also from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Under the provision of the 1959 Alien Residence Law, Kuwait regarded refugees as foreign residents, reserving the right to deport them, like all foreigners, without trial, if they threatened public security, the public interest, or morals. In March, UNHCR conducted a training course in refugee law for Ministry of Interior (MOI) personnel. B Detention/Access to Courts In January, Kuwait’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour detained 259 workers for violating residency laws, including 6 stateless persons and 3 on visit visas. Kuwait detained asylum seekers, but did not forcibly return them to countries where they feared persecution. B Freedom of Movement and Residence In March, Kuwait allowed UNHCR to build emergency camps to segregate potential refugee inflows from Iraq from the local population. Security forces occasionally set up checkpoints to check for illegal immigrants and to detain undocumented aliens. Recognized “expatriates” (refugees) holding legal residence permits and UNHCR protection certificates could move freely throughout the country. Although the Constitution provided for residents’ rights of freedom of movement and residence, in practice some workers complained they could not leave their residential camps. Right to Earn a Livelihood Recognized “expatriates” holding legal residence permits and UNHCR protection certificates could work under a Kuwaiti sponsor. Each national could sponsor up to five foreign workers. The Government granted workers the right to unionize but excluded over half a million domestic servants and an unknown number of marine employees. It ruled further that each occupational trade could have only one union. Foreign private sector workers could join but not lead unions. Foreign workers had to live under the sponsorship of a registered Kuwaiti company, and could not change employers without the latter’s approval during their first two years in Kuwait. Labor laws did not protect domestic workers from abuse. Police reportedly arrested and indefinitely detained dozens of domestic servants for alleged immigration violations after they ran away from abusive employers. They fell under the jurisdiction of the MOI rather than the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, which regarded such cases as criminal matters rather than labor disputes. Employers also routinely withheld passports and threatened deportation to pressure foreign employees to drop court cases against them. In early 2008, a prominent opposition MP proposed doing away with sponsorship requirements for expatriates who had lived in Kuwait for 40 years or more. Public Relief and Education Kuwait did not have a 2+5=7 system of public relief for foreigners. The neediest refugees received assistance from UNHCR, which assisted the Kuwaiti Red Crescent and the government-run Zakat House in providing basic humanitarian aid. Unlike nationals, foreigners had to pay yearly fees to the Ministry of Health for medical coverage to obtain or renew residency or work permits. They also had to pay additional fees each time they received medical care. Jobs D 110
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Page 3 and 4: the written agreements of the Minis
Page 5 and 6: camps, Al Tanf in the no-man’s-la
Page 7 and 8: Israeli authorities killed nearly 1
Page 9 and 10: 88 square miles (230 km 2 ) of the
Page 11 and 12: Jobs issued special letters to thos
Page 13: marriage. Reportedly, a Somali grou
Page 17 and 18: on the condition that UNHCR repatri
Page 19 and 20: Jobs The Government did not issue i
Page 21 and 22: Jobs The 1983 Constitution guarante
Page 23 and 24: Jobs Freedom of Movement and Reside
Page 25 and 26: ing of a Memorandum of Understandin
Page 27 and 28: from Côte d’Ivoire, who arrived
Page 29: migrate to Europe. Overcrowding pre

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