| This study focuses on urban refugee livelihoods in Nairobi, Kenya. In doing so, the work critically examines the Government's official position and the popular local perception that refugees are an economic burden and serve as a source of rising insecurity in the city. Empirical data on refugee trade networks and commercial enterprises reveals that most urban refugees are successful, self-sufficient entrepreneurs. These refugees have turned Eastleigh, a refugee-dominated area of Nairobi, into the city's third largest commercial center. In the best examples, urban refugees have even created work for local Kenyans. Evidence is also provided to challenge the myth that urban refugees as a group are a threat to national security. Despite urban refugees entrepreneurial successes and their high levels of self-sufficiency, conditions for most refugees in Nairobi are extremely difficult. Urban refugees live largely without material assistance or legal protection from the Government or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Consequently, most are vulnerable to chronic police arrest and abuse and face rising levels of xenophobia from the local population. Through revealing the positive social and economic impacts of refugees in Nairobi, this study challenges the arguments against legalizing the status of urban refugees and lends support to the idea of local integration as a viable, durable solution to their situation of protracted exile. |
