The government has issued a tough directive instructing all refugees in Kenya to stop using borrowed Kenyan identification cards to register mobile phone SIM cards and instead use their official Refugee IDs as required by new communication regulations.

In a notice issued on Thursday, June 12, the Department of Refugee Services said refugees can now legally register SIM cards using their Refugee IDs, enabling access to services such as mobile money.

The department warned that any refugee who had registered their SIM card using another person’s ID must urgently regularise the registration.

"Pursuant to the gazettement of The Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of Telecommunications Service Subscribers) Regulations 2025, DRS is hereby urging all refugees who have registered mobile phone SIM cards using borrowed Kenyan IDs to cease the practice immediately and regularise their SIM card registration," the department said.

The directive emphasized that using someone else’s ID to register a SIM card is against Regulation 9 of the new law and must be stopped immediately.

"Proxy registration of SIM cards is therefore in violation of Regulation 9 of the new Kenya Information and Communications Regulations, 2025. All concerned individuals are urged to take immediate action to comply," the notice added.

This development marks a major shift in refugee policy, which for years had restricted access to communication and financial services for many refugees.

With the use of Refugee IDs now legally allowed, refugees are expected to benefit from services that have been difficult to access without formal documentation.

The change comes just two months after the Cabinet approved the Shirika Plan, a strategy to support refugee integration and self-reliance through long-term development.

The plan aims to shift the country’s approach from aid dependency to the inclusion of refugees in economic and social systems.