Kenya High Court Overturns Ban on Horn of Africa Asylum Seekers

2026-10-30 campnews

Nairobi, 30 October 2026
A Kenyan High Court ruling has struck down a year-long registration freeze affecting Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, declaring the state’s suspension unlawful and discriminatory against international human rights commitments.

Legal Invalidation of the Government Freeze

The High Court of Kenya formally issued orders compelling the Department of Refugee Services (DRS) to immediately resume processing asylum seekers [1][3]. Delivered by Justice Gregory Mutai on 19 October 2026, the comprehensive judgment established that the executive directive halting admissions breached both the Constitution of Kenya and statutory refugee protections [1][3]. The court determined that the administrative freeze, originally introduced on 31 July 2025 by the DRS, amounted to unlawful discrimination by specifically barring individuals based on their nationality [1][3].

State Justifications versus Human Rights Coalition

The legal dispute emerged after Kenyan authorities suspended the profiling and documentation of applicants from Ethiopia and Eritrea until further notice [1]. The government defended its July 2025 policy by arguing that immigration curbs were critical to curbing human trafficking networks, resolving biometric and data integrity concerns, and safeguarding sovereign national security interests [1]. However, a unified coalition of human rights advocacy groups challenged the measure in court, arguing that the indefinite freeze severed vulnerable arrivals from critical identification, basic civil rights, and vital humanitarian aid [1].

Institutional Challenge and Sector Impact

The petition against the state was spearheaded by civil society and monitoring organisations, including the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Refugee Legal Networks, the Kenya Refugee Consortium, the Legal Center, and the Sanctuary Foundation [1]. Under the previous regime, asylum processing at major administrative centres, including the long-standing settlement hubs at Kakuma and Kalobeyei, left thousands of individuals in prolonged legal uncertainty without official documentation or protection [1][alert! ‘Specific separate administrative operational instructions for Kakuma versus Kalobeyei were requested but are absent from the provided texts’]. Following the judgment on 19 October 2026 and subsequent enforcement on 30 October 2026, the immediate reopening of the DRS registers dismantles more than a year of bureaucratic paralysis across regional transit hubs [1][3].

Bronnen

Refugee registration High Court