Migrant Narratives

CategoriesMigrant News

Asylum Seekers Among Stranded Migrants in Kenya as Ruto Orders Crackdown on Foreign Small Businesses

Many asylum seekers from Burundi and other countries who had turned to small businesses after USAID pulled out of Kenya last year now find themselves stranded, following President William Ruto’s recent declaration that foreigners should not run petty trade or hawking ventures — a directive that has forced some to abandon their livelihoods and even […]

CategoriesInvestigations

Promises of Free Trade, Realities of Bribes: East Africa’s Borders Under Siege

Despite East Africa’s pledge of free movement under the EAC, or the talks of the African Continental Free Trade Area, small scale traders — many of them women — face daily harassment, arbitrary fees, and systemic corruption at border points. Their testimonies reveal how bribes and bureaucratic delays inflate costs, erode livelihoods, and undermine regional […]

CategoriesNarratives

From Barbershops to Boda-Bodas: How East Africa’s Migrants Are Shaping Kenyan Cities

In 2025, Kenya hosts over 824,000 refugees and asylum seekers, according to UNHRC Organization, a growing number of whom are from Burundi and Rwanda. Most don’t arrive on front-page headlines. They walk. They ride. They blend. The East African Community’s free movement protocols were supposed to smooth cross-border movement—but for many, especially the undocumented, the […]