Integration without Identification? ID System Challenges for Refugees and Migrants in Kenya

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of migration and refugee management in Kenya, locating current efforts to digitize migrant identification in historical context. Identity innovation needs to be contextualized within the everyday legal and bureaucratic practices that shape social, economic, and political access. Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and focus group discussion with migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees reveal the various challenges in and obstacles to obtaining identification within Kenya. Identification is key to integration, and addressing issues of access to ID is essential. The report also provides recommendations for donors, development actors, the Kenyan government, UNHCR, and civil society groups to improve access to ID for marginalized groups.