As part of her paralegal work, Barke goes door to door educating women on the importance of getting birth certificates and helps them fill the forms for their children.
“If I was not involved in this process as a Pemba, our journey towards getting nationality could be longer than this. I have access to most members of my community which helps me to reach them with my colleagues from HAKI center and the government.” Barke. ; In Kenya, there are different groups of stateless persons such as the, Pemba, Galjael, Shona, as well as groups of individuals of Burundian, Congolese, Indian and Rwandan descent. Other groups that are at risk of statelessness are the Nubians and some people of Kenyan Somalis whose access for Kenyan identification documents is limited. The members of these communities “belong” to Kenya because of the existing and longstanding ties with the country however they do not have Kenyan citizenship.
The number of stateless persons in Kenya is not known. An estimate of 18,500 is being used following the registration of the Makonde in 2016.