K E N Ya | Azure waters and pearly beaches are the main draws for visitors to the palm-fringed southern coast of Kenya. Dhows, traditional Arabian sailing boats known as ‘Jahazi’ in Swahili, can frequently be seen unfurling their triangular sails against the horizon - iconic reminders of the history of nautical migration between Kenya and its coastal neighbours. However, life is far from idyllic for stateless populations that have inhabited this region for generations. The Pemba, originating from the Tanzanian island of the same name, arrived in two major waves of migration to the southern coast of Kenya. The first arrivals came between 1935 – 1940 in search of better livelihood opportunities. They took advantage of the free movement that existed between the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and the ‘10 Mile Strip,’ an area stretching from Vanga near the KenyaTanzania border to Kipini in Lamu, and the 10 nautical miles inland from that coastline, all of which were governed by the then Sultan of Zanzibar, Abdullah bin Khalifa. In 1963, with colonial rule drawing to an end in Africa, the Sultan relinquished his control over the 10 Mile Strip and the area was included as part of the Kenya Protectorate. It thus became an integral part of Kenya upon the country’s independence in December 1963. Notwithstanding the long presence of the Pemba on the Kenyan coast, or the fact that most had lost their ties with the island of Pemba over time, these first arrivals and their descendants have never been recognized as Kenyan citizens. “The biggest problem is the poverty caused by my statelessness.” 32 • The Pemba The Pemba UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT 2017 The second wave of Pemba arrived in Kenya between 1963 – 1970, some seeking economic opportunity, but most fleeing the violence resulting from the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution, which led to the overthrow of the monarchy of Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Although some from this group were issued with Kenyan nationality identity cards, these were withdrawn under the repressive regime of President Moi and deportation orders against the Pemba were issued throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Notwithstanding these orders, many Pemba took refuge in the Kenyan bush, desperate to remain in the country that they had come to view as home. It is estimated that there are approximately 3,500 Pemba living in Kenya today. Predominantly earning their living through fishing and subsistence farming, the group of 25 stateless Pemba men and women that UNHCR consulted in Shimoni village were all pre-independence arrivals or the children of such persons, born and raised their entire lives in the coastal counties of Kwale and Kilifi. Shaame Hamisi, a 55-yearold father of 13 and Chairman of the Pemba community, remains stateless and undocumented, despite the fact that his wife is a Kenyan national and is entitled to pass her nationality to him under the law. Shaame is a fisherman and spends long, hot days and starry nights on the Indian Ocean, trying to make a living to feed, clothe and educate his large family. “The biggest problem is the poverty caused by my statelessness” he says. “Because I am stateless, I cannot get a fishing license. Without a license, I cannot go deep-sea fishing where the best catch can be found. I cannot afford my own boat, which costs 300,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately 300 US Dollars), or the equipment to fish well. Without a Kenyan national I.D., I’m not eligible for bank loans to purchase those things. I must pay rent and fuel money to use my neighbour’s boat. Even if I could purchase a boat, I would have to register it in someone else’s name. A stateless person cannot own property. I feel belittled and disgraced by the situation that I am in.” It is not only Shaame who feels distress at being excluded. Sixty-six-year-old Mekombo Abdallah is a Pemba woman of few words, but when asked how she feels about her situation, she quietly says: “I cannot even eat when I think of my statelessness.” Omar Kombo, a jovial 48-year-old Pemba man with six young children, also feels bitter about the inequality he experiences as a result of being stateless. “The majority of us are fishermen” he says. “The Beach Management Unit deducts 10 Kenyan shillings for each kilo of fish that every fisherman on this coast sells. It is supposed to issue the dividends to all contributors for damage done to the boats during the season. Because we are Pemba we get nothing, even if our boats are broken. We are forced to participate in this scheme, but all the benefits are given to our brothers with Kenyan nationality.” Suleiman Ali Makame, 40, who comes from the same village, recalls a time when he was fishing and Tanzanian Pemba illegally entered Kenyan waters. “We were all arrested by the Kenyan Coastguard and asked to show our identity cards. I could not, despite the fact that I have lived here my whole life and feel that I am Kenyan. I have never set foot on Pemba. I don’t know anyone there. I was locked up as a criminal with all the others.” To escape the disadvantage inherent in not being recognized as Kenyan, some of the | K E N YA Pemba have turned to fraudulent means to get by. Bi Aisha Abdallah, a 45-year-old mother of six, confesses that when Pemba children need to graduate, some Pemba parents have resorted to ‘buying’ Kenyan parents who can present national I.D.s to enable the children to take their final national examinations. Rashid Bakari, an articulate young Pemba man, says that he is fortunate not to be stateless. His father arrived in Mombasa from Pemba in 1938, and when asked by the authorities in 1963 about his ancestry he named the local Bajuni tribe, among whom the family had been living. “But I am not Bajuni” says Bakari, “I am a Pemba, and even though I am not stateless, I want to reclaim my rightful ethnic identity. I want to be a Kenyan national, but I also want to be who I am.” Omar Kombo faces the same dilemma and says “unless I change my name to one from a local Kenyan tribe I will not be registered as a Kenyan national. But I choose not to change my name or my tribe because that is not who I am. I am a Kenyan of Pemba origin.” Under the Constitution of Kenya and the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, stateless persons who have lived in Kenya continuously since the date of independence (12 December 1963), and their descendants, can acquire Kenyan citizenship by registration. Foreigners who arrived after independence, but who have lived legally in Kenya continuously for seven years, are also eligible for Kenyan citizenship as long as certain conditions are met. Accordingly, all of the Pemba and their children with whom UNHCR consulted should be able to acquire “I have never set foot on Pemba. I don’t know anyone there.” 2017 UNHCR STATELESSNESS REPORT • 33