24-05-2025
Trans refugees fear abuse, death as Kenya plans to integrate camps
Weeks after the launch of an ambitious plan to integrate refugees into Kenyan society, some transgender refugees say they would rather return home and risk the dangers they originally fled than face the possibility of fresh abuse in Kenya.
In the Kakuma camp, in northern Kenya, transgender refugees say the government's Shirika Plan could expose them to transphobia and violence.
About 165 transgender refugees, most of those in Kakuma, live in the area of the camp called Block 13. Many said they had already experienced violence and discrimination and fear the risks would be even higher once the camps are integrated into Kenyan society.
'If we have been attacked inside the camp, which is a protected zone, what guarantees do we have that we will not be attacked in an open society?' asked Emily Elisa, a 32-year-old trans woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who has been in Kakuma for seven years.
'The camp has never been safe for all queer refugees, but for transgender people, it has been more of a death trap,' Elisa said, adding that she had been attacked five times.
Trena, a 24-year-old transgender woman who has been in Kakuma for five years and did not want to give her last name, said other refugees beat her and her partner in 2023 for wearing rainbow bracelets. Trena's dreadlocks were shaved off.
