MPs on Friday visited the Pemba community in Kwale as the government sets in motion the process of officially recognising the stateless group.
There are an estimated 7,000 members of the Pemba community inn Kenya. The majority live in Kwale and other coastal counties.
They had petitioned the state the review their long-standing plight for recognition.
On Friday, members of the National Assembly's Security and Administration Committee visited the community in Shimoni in Lunga Lunga constituency, Kwale county.
Committee member Oku Kaunya said the team was accessing data on the ground to prompt the registration of the stateless group.
“Parliament has directed us to investigate the real situation about the Pembas and retrieve concrete information that might help the government in decision making,” Kaunya said.
The Teso North lawmaker said a similar exercise was going on in Kilifi and Mombasa counties where other Pembas reside.
They are mostly fishermen and have some of the greatest divers.
The community is believed to have arrived in Kenya in two batches, the first group in the 1930s and the second one thirty years later.
Their plight was presented to Parliament by the Kilifi North MP Owen Baya in November last year.
Kaunya said the committee will make recommendations for Parliament to discuss and provide further directives.
Mwea MP Kabinga Wachira said the government was keen on finding equal rights for all citizens.
“The consideration has just come on appropriate timing when President Uhuru Kenyatta wants to ensure there is enough peace by responding to the needs of those feeling aggrieved,” Wachira said.
Kenya Human Rights Commission official Robert Waweru said not just the Pemba community but also others who are still stateless should be considered.
He said the non-citizens have had a miserable life without the national identification documents.
Pemba community chairman Shaame Hamisi said they have been missing crucial government services because of a lack of citizenship.
He said getting recognised will make them 'humans again' saying a stateless life was like living in the jungle.
Edited by P.O
