COALITION ON EVERY CHILD’S RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY
KENYA
TINA, 22
“Without an ID,
most of my friends
did not fully accept
me, some even
ridiculed me. Now
[with ID] we will
build the nation.
When citizens are
employed, they
pay taxes, this tax
is used to develop
the country.”
In Kenya, the Makonde community
were without nationality for
decades.
They were displaced from Mozambique to Kenya
in the 1930s to work on sisal and sugar
plantations. The Kenyan-born Makonde have
long been labelled as ‘outsiders’ and denied
proof of citizenship. However, in February 2017,
the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta,
recognized the Makonde as the 43rd tribe of
Kenya and some 1,500 Makonde have since
received citizenship.
Tina and her family have benefitted from this
directive. Tina’s brother is 18 and has a Kenyan
National I.D., which has allowed to him to win a
scholarship to study at a medical training
college. She is also looking for a good job that
will help to “build the nation”.
- TINA, 22, Kenya
© UNHCR/Roger Arnold
18
M I N O R I T Y C H I L D R E N A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S
M I N O R I T Y C H I L D R E N A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S
19
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents