KENYA THIS CHAPTER LOOKS MORE CLOSELY AT RIGHT TO NATIONALITY, DOCUMENTATION AND LEGAL STATUS; RIGHT TO HEALTH AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS,4 AND MAKES THE FOLLOWING CALL TO ACTION TO THE GOVERNMENT AND RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS: Member of Parliament Kisumu Town East, Hon. Shakeel Shabbir Kenya is home to an estimated 18,500 stateless who face discrimination and barriers in accessing nationality documentation.5 Various minority communities are impacted, including the Pemba, Galjael, Shona and those of Burundian, Congolese, Indian and Rwandan descent. Nubians and some Kenyan Somalis whose access to face challenges with documentation.6 These minority communities experience institutionalised discrimination in the issuance of documents and are subjected to a vetting process, based on ethnicity, in order to acquire an identity card or passport. brings with it, further threats to the inclusion of these excluded communities. Kenya recently introduced the National Integrated Identity Management System which has made access to public services conditional on access to a HudumaNamba who are denied a HudumaNamba because they are undocumented or stateless, will be denied basic human rights including access to universal healthcare, education, employment and accessing government services.7 Kenya has been heavily impacted by the panchallenges before the pandemic, which have been greatly exacerbated by COVID-19. The Nubian community are denied their equal right to nationality, as they were not recognised as citizens at the time of independence,8 meaning they were required to apply to register as citizens (through a highly discriminatory vetting process), rather than automatically acquiring it.9 As a result, many remain without recognition or documentation of citizenship. Nubians reside in various parts of Kenya, such as Kisii, Momand Bungoma counties, but the majority live in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi, with a population of over 500,000 people. because of the backlogs of applications which lenges have been caused by the suspension of vetting which led to increased number of applicants waiting to be vetted. The introduction of online application has also increased more challenge as not many citizens can afford to apply online which is expensive due to exploitation by intermediaries in the cyber and illiteracy. RIGHT TO HEALTH Kibera is a hotspot for the spread of COVID-19 due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions (including lack of water and hygiene products including soap), where social distancing and Stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness face many barriers in accessing healthcare services. The lack of legal identity is a barrier to accessing inpatient treatment from government and private hospitals, with high costs also preventing access to private healthcare. As a result, many are left to depend on herbal medicines. The fear of police harassment, arrests and detention due to lack of documentation further decreases the likelihood of seeking medical help. At the time of writing, the Nubian community living in areas where local NGO, NRF, operate had not been included in the national vaccination plan. Due to the limited number of vaccines available, lack of legal documentation, remote geographical location and poverty, those with nationality issues currently have very little access to the vaccine. ENSURE THAT STATELESS COMMUNITIES ARE INCLUDED ON AN EQUAL BASIS IN THE COVID-19 VACCINATION PLAN. WORK WITH CIVIL SOCIETY, UNHCR, THE RED CROSS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO ENSURE THAT STATELESS COMMUNITIES ARE INCLUDED ON AN EQUAL BASIS IN THE COVID-19 ACTION PLAN AND ARE PROVIDED WITH FOOD AND OTHER RELIEF ACCORDING TO NEED RECOGNISE STATELESS COMMUNITIES IN KENYA, FACILITATE THEIR EQUAL ACCESS TO NATIONALITY AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO ACCESSING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION. IMMEDIATELY STOP FORCED EVICTIONS OF THE NUBIAN COMMUNITY, WHO FACE DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESSING NATIONALITY AND ARE AT HIGH RISK OF CONTRACTING COVID-19. Mental Health: There are reports of deteriorating mental health in Dadaab refugee camp, a consultations. Cash and food transfers have anxiety and uncertainty about the future, especially in the context of COVID-19.10 RIGHT TO NATIONALITY, DOCUMENTATION AND LEGAL STATUS During lockdown, various registration and govregistered births, deaths, marriages and ID and passport applications. This prevented Nubians from beginning the process of obtaining IDs and resulted in pending applications being put on SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS Exclusion from Emergency Relief: The National Hygiene Programme, locally known as ‘KaziMtaani’11, is designed to cushion the most vulnerable but able-bodied citizens living in informal settlements from the impact of COVID-19. The programme provides income generating opportunities by recruiting residents of these settlements to carry out projects aimed at improving the environment, service delivery and infrastructure development. In Nairobi, more than 12,000 Kenyans living in Mathare, with limited capacity, but Nubians and other stateless communities continue to face challenges accessing and acquiring documentation from this initiative. Despite the reach of this programme, only those with ID cards are recruited, excluding many Nubians and stateless persons 27