Socioeconomic Survey of the Stateless Shona in 2019 [Kenya]

In 2016, UNHCR became aware of a group of stateless persons living in or near Nairobi, Kenya. Most of them were Shona, descendants of missionaries who arrived from Zimbabwe and Zambia in the 1960s and remained in Kenya. The total number of Shona living in Kenya is estimated to be between 3,000 and 3,500 people.

On their first arrival, the Shona were issued certificates of registration, but a change in the Registration of Persons Act of 1978 did not make provision for people of non-Kenyan descent, consequently denying the Shona citizenship. Zimbabwe and Zambia did not consider them nationals either, rendering them stateless. Besides the Shona, there are other groups of stateless persons of different origins and ethnicities, with the total number of stateless persons in Kenya estimated at 18,500.

UNHCR and the Government of Kenya are taking steps to address statelessness in the country, among them is the registration of selected groups for nationalization. In April 2019, the Government of Kenya pledged to recognize qualifying members of the Shona community as Kenyan citizens. However, the lack of detailed information on the stateless population in Kenya hinders advocacy for the regularization of their nationality status. Together with the Kenyan Government through the Department of Immigration Services (DIS) and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), UNHCR Kenya conducted registration and socioeconomic survey for the Shona community from May to July 2019. While the primary objective of the registration was to document migration, residence and family history with the aim of preparing their registration as citizens, this survey was conducted to provide a baseline on the socio-economic situation of the stateless Shona population for comparison with non-stateless populations of Kenya.

The scope of the questionnaire includes:
Demographics
Education
Employment
Household Characteristics
Consumption and Expenditure (Food, Nonfood, Energy, Education and Rent)