Kenya on Monday confirmed four Turkish nationals abducted on Friday were repatriated to their country, effectively admitting being behind the abductions.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary confirmed the repatriation was at the request of Turkish authorities, which effectively means the Kenyan government contravened the 1951 Refugee Convention in which it is a party.
“Kenya confirms that four nationals of the Republic of Türkiye were repatriated back to their home country on Friday, October 18, 2024. Kenya acceded to this request on the strength of the robust historical and strategic relations anchored on bilateral instruments between our respective countries,” the PS said.
Korir further acknowledged that Mustafa Genç(former principal Light Academy) , Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı, and Hüseyin Yeşilsu had been living in Kenya as refugees.
Article 33 (1) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees: Non-Penalization, Detention and Protection provides, “No Contracting State shall expel or return (” refouler “) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
Article 33 (2) further provides that, “The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgement of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country”.
In what appears as its defence, PS Korir said the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs had received assurances from the Turkish authorities that the four people would be treated with dignity in keeping with national and international law.
“Kenya is committed to the privacy and confidentiality of the repatriated individuals and will refrain from responding to media inquiries on the subject until the ongoing inter-agency review of the case is complete,” he said.
He also expressed the government’s commitment to the international community to protect and promote refugee rights as prescribed under national and international law.
“Kenya is committed to the privacy and confidentiality of the repatriated individuals and will refrain from responding to media inquiries on the subject until the ongoing inter-agency inquiry review of the case is complete,” he said.
“As such, the rights welfare and well-being of the more than 780,000 refugees residing in the country will remain the government’s singular priority.”
ABDUCTIONS
BBC senior correspondent Anne Soy noted that the four Turkish nationals were living in Nairobi under UN protection.
It is the BBC that initially reported the abductions, reporting that a British national has told them he and several Turkish citizens were abducted in Nairobi by masked men on Friday.
According to the BBC, Necdet Seyitoğlu, who lived in the UK for 18 years before moving to Kenya two years ago, said he was released after eight hours when he showed the abductors a copy of his British passport.
UK Foreign Office said they were “providing consular support to a British man and his family following an incident in Kenya”.
The BBC further said the Kenya police force said it was investigating what it described as a “kidnapping incident”. CCTV footage has been released showing how the abduction was done.
The video shows two vehicles trailing, intercepting and blocking from the front and behind a silver saloon car with two occupants.
Kenyan police spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed the events, adding that about eight persons armed with weapons emerged from the two vehicles, pulled out the two occupants and drove off with them.
Later, one Yusuf Kar, a British national of Turkish origin” reported to a nearby police station and identified the kidnapped men as Hüseyin Yeşilsu and Necdet Seyitoğlu.
CONDEMNATION
Various lobby groups have condemned the abductions, with Amnesty International Kenya under the Police Reforms Working Group saying it was shocked by the Kenyan government’s admission that Kenyan law enforcement and foreign affairs agencies played a role in the refoulement and forced return of the Turkish nationals from Kenya to Turkey.
“The principle of non-refoulement is a cornerstone of refugee protection. It has been recognised in international humanitarian law for more than 70 years. The 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 OAU Convention on refugees and the 2021 Refugee Law of Kenya explicitly prohibit the return of refugees to a place where they are likely to face the very danger from which they fled,” the statement said on October 21.
It added that the obligations cannot be traded for commercial, diplomatic or trade interests without violating both national and international law.
It added that the government didn’t provide any evidence that the four posed any danger to national security or, after due process, were found guilty of a crime that threatens the safety of others, which would have been a basis for exceptions to the principle of non-refoulment.
“Rather than returning asylum seekers to governments that they had fled from, a third country for safe resettlement could have been found. Tragically, the Government has placed four human beings at grave risk as well as Kenya’s standing as a sanctuary nation for those fleeing persecution and war,” the statement added.
The statement was signed by Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), Kariobangi Paralegal Network, Defenders Coalition, Katiba Institute, Social Justice Centres Working Group (SJCW), Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya), International Justice Mission (IJM-K), HAKI Africa, and Amnesty International Kenya.
Other lobbies are Women Empowerment Link, Social Welfare Development Program (SOWED), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA- Kenya), International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ – Kenya), Transparency International Kenya, Shield For justice, Wangu Kanja Foundation, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO), Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ) and Peace Brigades International Kenya (PBI Kenya)
The move, they said, undermines Kenya’s credibility as the newest member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and torpedoes the United Nations Universal Periodic Review process planned for next year.
“This weekend’s breach punctures Kenya’s legal commitments and its international moral standing and threatens three decades of confidence in Kenya’s humanitarian protection for the 780,000 refugees on Kenyan soil who need it today,” they said.
US Representative Randy Weber in an X post said he was deeply concerned about the “illegal abduction of four Turkish nationals in Kenya, who are under UNHCR protection”.
“This transnational repression by agents of the Turkish government is a violation of humanitarian laws. I urge Kenya to uphold international laws and ensure no refugees are deported based on non-refoulement principles,” he said.
PAST ABDUCTIONS AND DEPORTATIONS
It is, however, not the first time Kenya is being used to apprehend Turkish nationals in the country.
In May 2021, authorities handed to their Turkish security counterparts a nephew of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen — who died on Sunday, October 20 — and too him back to Turkey.
Selahaddin Gulen was accused of belonging to an outlawed organisation headed by his uncle Gulen, who was accused of being behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.He denied the accusations.
Gulen movement runs a network of schools and charities with presence in Kenya, which Turkish authorities have previously called for their closure.
In August 2021, Kenyan authorities deported Turkish national Harun Aydin, an ally of then Deputy President William Ruto — now president — after consultations with the Turkish authorities.
Then Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said Turkish authorities requested to deal with him as per the existing bilateral agreements.
Aydin was facing money laundering charges.
