The government will not issue IDs to Somali immigrants on the Lamu-Somalia border.

Speaking during a meeting between the immigrants and security officials in Kiunga town on Thursday, Lamu county commissioner Irungu Macharia said despite having lived in Kenya, the law doesn’t provide for the immigrants to be issued with IDs.

He said they remain citizens of Somalia and aliens in Kenya.

This comes days after immigrants numbering over 1,000 appealed to be issued with national IDs, birth certificates and title deeds.

The immigrants who are mostly from the Somali and Gosha communities occupy the border villages of Kiunga, Ishakani, Madina, Mararani and Ras Kamboni.

They have for decades been treated as ambiguous citizens as most of them moved from Somalia and settled in Lamu years back.

They have even intermarried with the local Bajuni communities and purchased land in the areas.

Macharia said instead of the national IDs the immigrants are seeking, the government shall provide Alien IDs and nothing more. The cards will be issued by June.

He said the registration of all immigrants who have attained the age of 18 is under way.

“Staying in Kenya for whatever period still doesn’t give you the right to claim Kenyan citizenship. You remain an immigrant and can only be recognised as an alien by law. We can only give you special cards showing you are in Kenya legally. You can’t be given national IDs. Never,” Macharia said.

The announcement disappointed the immigrants who insist they see no reason why they shouldn’t acquire Kenyan identity having been in the country for years.

They said their children having been born and bred in Kenya have no idea what happens in Somalia and it’s unfair to force them to belong to country they know nothing about.

 Godana Abdi, a father of five, said the Kenyan government has no reason to withhold citizenship from them.

“The way we are being treated over this whole issue is very unfair. You cannot live in a country for over 30 years and are still told you are an alien. It’s an insult. We hope the government reconsiders,” Abdi said.

They worry that the lands they have worked had to acquire over the years might be grabbed by opportunists who will take advantage of the fact that they have no title deeds.

“We might lose our lands. We can’t get jobs because we have no IDs. We can’t move freely because we get arrested by security officers who assume we are terrorists as we have no IDs. The cards they want to give us won’t help resolve all this. They should look into it,” said Khalifa Omar.

Source: The Star