As of September 2017, almost half a million registered refugees and asylum seekers are being hosted in Kenya, of whom 64,208 are in urban areas (mainly Nairobi).[1] Leaving one’s country and becoming a refugee is usually a person’s last resort; HRDs most commonly become refugees due to insecurity related to their human rights work.
Kenya hosts a large refugee population, including many human rights defenders who have been forced into exile for defending human rights in their home country. Faisal Elbagir is one of these exiles that PBI Kenya has had the privilege to meet.
On 6th March, PBI Kenya hosted the third and final session in our series of workshops examining the issues facing Human Rights Defenders (HRD) in exile in Kenya.
From 21-22 February, the EHAHRD-Net held its third General Assembly in Kampala, Uganda. PBI Kenya had the pleasure of attending the GA of the largest regional network of HRDs, which brought together individuals from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
PBI Kenya recently hosted two events with a view to inform on how to better support Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) who find themselves in exile in Kenya.