Kenya hosts over 1m foreign migrants, IOM says
Friday March 08 2024
Women and children attending a United Nations Population Fund (UNDP) distribution exercise at Danisa Refugee camp, Kenya on December 21,2023. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NMG
Kenya is hosting more than 1.05 million foreign migrants within its borders, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Sharon Dimanche, chief of mission at the IOM Kenya, said on Thursday during a women's forum in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that the international migrants consist of both refugees and other migrants seeking safety and opportunities in the country.
"Most of the foreign migrants are from African countries neighboring Kenya," she said.
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She said Somalia is the country of origin of the largest number of migrants in Kenya, followed by Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The UN migration agency official added that one of the drivers of international migrants entering Kenya is political instability and the negative effects of climate change in their home countries.