Refugee-led · Kenya–Somalia Borderlands

MayHem Threads

LGBTQ refugees face a cruelty that defies compassion: persecuted for who they are at home, then erased by the very asylum systems meant to shelter them. In host countries, their claims are dismissed, their identities scrutinized, their trauma disbelieved. Without legal recognition, they are pushed underground—into exploitative work, unsafe housing, and detention centers that replicate the violence they fled. The journey doesn't end at the border. For many, that's where the real abandonment begins.

Our Approach 2025 Testimonials Report

270+ Community voices heard

5 Federal Member States reached

3 Major cities researched

MayHem Threads — displaced youth leading change on the Kenya–Somalia border

Our Work

Economic Power in the Shadow of Displacement

In a region where 78% of young refugees face forced labor or sex work, we ignite refugee-led entrepreneurship. We don't create jobs; we dismantle aid dependency.

Climate Justice as a Human Rights Need

We train pastoralists in regenerative farming because we believe that the border's dust holds our future's seeds.

Bodily Autonomy as Radical Resistance

For young refugees—especially disabled, queer, and gender-oppressed bodies—safety is revolutionary. Our social justice warriors document police brutality via digital advocacy.

Only 0.3% of Somalia's 2023 humanitarian appeal ($2.6B) targeted FGM prevention — Mayhem Threads Advocacy Poster

Advocacy Spotlight

Addressing Neglected Rights Gaps in Humanitarian Appeals

Only 0.3% of Somalia's 2023 humanitarian appeal ($2.6B) targeted Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevention and specialized SRHR care.

Rooted in the Kenya–Somalia borderlands, Mayhem Threads directly challenges systemic exclusion by putting refugee youth, queer women, and intersex individuals at the helm of community-led policy advocacy and health education.

Our Advocacy Approach →

Our Rights-based Approach

Centering Agency, Not Charity

We recognize young refugees as rights-holders—not beneficiaries—equipping them to claim their inherent rights to safety, health, and self-determination through community-led advocacy and legal empowerment.

Dismantling Systemic Barriers

Our work targets the root causes of injustice: discriminatory laws, climate apartheid, and gendered violence, demanding accountability from states and institutions that fail to uphold refugees' rights to land, bodily autonomy, and dignified work.

Nothing About Us Without Us

Every initiative—from disability-inclusive climate projects to SRHR telehealth—is co-designed by displaced youth, ensuring their voices reshape policies, budgets, and power structures that affect their lives.

Annual Program Publication · 2025

Voices of Resilience: Stories from the Kenya–Somalia Border

Reporting Period: January 2025 – December 2025 · Compiled by Mayhem Threads Documentation & Advocacy Unit · Location: Dadaab Refugee Complex & Surrounding Host Communities

Mayhem Threads Kenya/Somalia Border Operations Cover Poster

2025 Report Conclusion: "From Invisibility to Agency"

Mayhem Threads Last Word Concluding Report Poster

"These eight testimonials represent just a fraction of the lives touched by Mayhem Threads in 2025. They illustrate a common thread: the transformation from invisibility to agency, from dependence to dignity, from silence to voice. Each beneficiary left with something more valuable than temporary relief: the capacity to shape their own future."

— Mayhem Threads Border Operations · info@mayhemthreads.org · All testimonials shared with informed consent.