Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula held discussions with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees for an enhanced partnership with Parliament.
The partnership will focus on refugee issues in the country.
UNHCR special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mohamed Affey, said deeper collaborations with lawmakers were needed since Kenya hosts close to 500,000 refugees.
“Kenya is one of the countries with progressive refugee laws and we look forward to further engaging on pending laws on refugee issues in the National Assembly for consideration," Affey said on Thursday.
Wetang’ula praised the kind gesture by the delegation and thanked them for being a great partner in the country on humanitarian issues affecting refugees, especially in Dadaab and Kakuma camps.
“Kenya has been home to refugees for over 40 years and we have rescued most African countries from humanitarian crises," Wetang'ula said.
"We shall continue to work together on laws that can preserve the rights of people most decently.”
The speaker said the ideal situation in any nation in the world is not having refugees but in situations that cannot be controlled, refugees should be treated humanely and decent to live a normal life.
He said it was important to facilitate refugees with proper documentation required by their host country, to allow them access to services and amenities and contribute to the development of the nation.
"I appreciate efforts made by the organization on the initiative to issue refugees with NHIF cards terming it a great step towards achieving Universal Health Care," Wetang'ula said.
