Refugees in Kenya: Roles of Faith

Abstract

The number of refugees globally has reached its highest level in 60 years. Finding ways to resolve protracted displacement is an urgent priority even as global humanitarian institutions struggle to cope with present realities. These global challenges have often poorly explored religious dimensions, positive and negative, as religious actors are vital players in the systems of humanitarian response and religious tensions play their part in the refugee and migrant flows themselves as well as in the lives of refugees. Kenya hosts the world’s largest refugee camp (the Dadaab complex) and thousands more refugees live in urban areas and in the Kakuma refugee camp. This report describes the work of a range of faith actors involved in refugee issues in Kenya, exploring various roles that religious beliefs and institutions play.