ABSTRACT
In many instances host states often use refugees as scapegoats for their failures in dealing with criminality. This chapter shows that the perception of refugees as security threats and the threats they pose to host states, is linked to the real and imagined roles they play in criminality. Crime is traditionally viewed as a domestic law-enforcement rather than a security problem. International organisations and donors have invested directly in security through provision of training, infrastructure and resources to the police, which has in fact enhanced security. The criminalisation of refugees', which can be traced to World War II, involved linking refugees to transnational crimes. The main crimes reported in Kenya include offences against the person stealing, breaking in and robbery. The both country involvement in crime should, thus, be viewed in the context of the other causes, such as poverty, economic inequality, exclusion, ineffective and poor enforcement of law, corruption, judicial dysfunctionality, inadequate policing and political violence.
