Kenya’s ambitious shift toward refugee economic inclusion under the Shirika Plan is facing significant implementation hurdles, with a new white paper warning that bureaucratic barriers continue to lock thousands out of the formal labour market.
A report by the Kenya Coalition for Refugee Economic Inclusion argues that while Kenya has made notable legal progress through the Refugee Act 2021 and subsequent regulations, access to work permits remains severely constrained in practice.
The report says the process to access Class M work permits, which refugees are legally entitled to apply for, is complex, costly and often inaccessible.
“The timelines can be very long, ranging from 3 to 24 months, and involve a lot of back-and-forth, bureaucratic delays such as applications being “lost” or “not received” in the system. This results in high hidden costs (many travels to obtain and bring new documents required – from camps to Nairobi, loss of revenue, missed opportunities, etc.). Technological advances here could significantly streamline processes,” the report says.
The report adds that access to legal work authorisation remains one of the most critical barriers to refugee self-reliance. Applicants are frequently caught in a “vicious cycle” where they need a job offer to secure a permit, yet employers are reluctant to hire without one.
This is despite refugees representing an underutilised talent pool within Kenya’s economic transformation agenda, as the reports says.
The study says many refugees living in Kenya have spent years in the country, and a high number have completed their education within the Kenyan system and have obtained degrees, technical training, and professional experience.
“A growing number have acquired skills aligned with emerging sectors and are prepared to contribute through formal employment. Refugees can also bring language skills through their mother tongue, such as French for those from the DRC or Burundi, and Arabic for those from Sudan or South Sudan,” the paper says.
The findings cast doubt on the pace at which the government can deliver on the Shirika Plan, a flagship policy aimed at transitioning refugees from humanitarian dependency to economic participation and integration with host communities.
Launched in 2025, the plan is designed to align refugee management with Kenya’s broader development agenda, promoting self-reliance while reducing reliance on shrinking humanitarian aid flows.
However, the white paper suggests that administrative systems have not kept pace with this policy shift.
A key obstacle lies in documentation and data integration. Refugees are registered under systems managed by the Department of Refugee Services and the UN refugee agency, but their data is not linked to the national identification system. As a result, many are unable to obtain essential documents such as tax compliance certificates or identification required to apply for work permits.
This disconnect effectively renders refugees “invisible” within government systems, preventing them from accessing formal employment despite being legally eligible.
The report also highlights procedural challenges, including unclear application requirements, lengthy approval processes and inconsistent decision-making. Employers, meanwhile, are often required to prove that positions cannot be filled by Kenyan nationals, a requirement that can be difficult to demonstrate, particularly in emerging sectors.
As a result, many businesses opt out of hiring refugees altogether, despite growing demand for skilled labour.
This creates a paradox, the report notes, where Kenya has both a pool of qualified refugee workers and sectors in need of talent, but lacks efficient mechanisms to connect the two.
The economic implications are significant. With limited access to formal employment, many refugees are forced into informal work, resulting in lost tax revenue and reduced contributions to social protection systems.
“Enabling legal work pathways would allow refugees to contribute fully and transparently to Kenya’s tax base while strengthening economic governance,” the report says.
The paper argues that refugees represent an underutilised workforce, with many having acquired education and skills within Kenya, including in high-demand sectors such as digital services and business process outsourcing.
Despite this, labour force participation remains low, particularly among women, pointing to deeper structural barriers beyond legal frameworks.
To address these challenges, the report proposes a pilot programme to facilitate work permits for a limited number of refugees, alongside a multi-stakeholder approach involving government agencies, private sector actors and development partners.
The pilot, targeting around 500 beneficiaries, would test streamlined processes within existing legal frameworks, with a view to scaling up successful models.
The recommendations come at a time when Kenya is under increasing pressure to transition from aid-based refugee support to sustainable economic inclusion, as global humanitarian funding declines.
