While refugee camps dominate public attention, a quieter crisis is unfolding in Kenya’s cities. In Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu, growing numbers of Sudanese refugees live outside formal humanitarian systems. They are largely invisible in policy frameworks, navigating urban life with limited access to protection, services or legal recognition. This scenario is not an accident  it exemplifies a refugee response model that is built around camps, despite the reality that displacement is increasingly urban.

Urban Refugees without Urban Protection

For many Sudanese fleeing war, cities offer the promise of safety, work and opportunity. However, the reality is different broken promises.

While refugees in camps benefit from structured humanitarian support, those outside the structured support in urban areas are often left to fend for themselves. Without proper documentation due to slow registration processes and unclear legal pathways, they are vulnerable exposed to arrest, harassment and exploitation. They live in the city but outside its systems of protection. In the long rum, they inevitably end up being non-compliant with Kenyan law.

The Economics of Survival

Urban life in cities such as Nairobi is expensive, even for the Kenyan citizens. For the refugees, survival often depends on the informal economy or remittances from relatives in the diaspora. This exclusion of refugees from participating in meaningful economic activities has broader consequences including:

• Lost skills and human capital
• Reduced innovation and entrepreneurship
• Foregone tax revenue

In effect, a population capable of contributing to Kenya’s urban economy is structurally sidelined. Therefore, their inclusion is not just a humanitarian issue but one that could positively impact the economy.

The hidden cost of exclusion

Economic hardship is only part of the story.

There is a more systemic negative social impact as the refugees face isolation, language barriers, exclusionary legal system, discrimination, and xenophobia. The label “refugee” itself often carries stigma, reinforcing perceptions of dependency and otherness.

For people who have already experienced war, displacement and loss, this marginalisation can only deepen their psychological distress. Many live with unresolved trauma while lacking access to adequate mental health and social support. They are caught between national systems and humanitarian programmes with neither of them fully reaching them.

A Call to action – a policy gap that Kenya can no longer ignore

Kenya has long played a leading role in hosting refugees from across the region. Refugees from Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all found temporary refuge in Kenya. However, hospitality alone is no longer enough.

Urban displacement is not temporary. It has become a defining feature of a rapidly urbanising and conflict-affected world. Sadly, policy frameworks remain largely camp-focused, failing to address the realities of refugees living in cities and whose numbers are on the rise.

There are four complimentary proposals whose implementation together with policy alignment could have a positive impact. They include:

• Streamlining refugee registration and documentation
• Expanding legal protections in urban areas
• Enabling access to formal employment
• Integrating refugees into urban planning and service delivery

From invisibility to inclusion

Sudanese refugees in Kenya’s cities are not just displaced people. They are workers, entrepreneurs and neighbours. Their marginalisation is not inevitable but a result of policy choices. As Kenya’s cities continue to expand, the question is not whether they can accommodate refugees but whether they are prepared and willing to embrace them as integral members of the expanding urban community.

Silence is no longer defensible. Inclusion is both possible and necessary.

Biography

Dr. Precious Joan Wapukha: Lecturer, Kibabii University, Kenya, ARUA Post-Doc fellow, hosted by the ARUA Center of Excellence Center for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos. She is a beneficiary of the ARUA Early Career Researchers Fellowship sponsored by the Mastercard Foundation. More…