• In a communication seen by The Brief, Kenya’s embassy in Beijing on Friday asked Kenyans who would want to be evacuated to register with the mission.
Foreign Affairs PS Amb Macharia Kamau at a press conference at MFA headquarters on Tuesday
NAIROBI – The government has succumbed to public pressure and will now evacuate Kenyans stranded in China and UAE.
In a communication seen by The Brief, Kenya’s embassy in Beijing on Friday asked Kenyans who would want to be evacuated to register with the mission.
“The embassy of Republic of Kenya in Beijing wish to engage you to undertake the for task within 24 hours. Head count of Kenyans stranded and ready to travel on chartered flight at their own cost under the following terms; a)must be Kenyan b)must be holder of Kenyan passport. c)must pay for their own ticket. d)Be Covid-19 free with certificate to that effect. e)must be ready to undergo compulsory quarantine for 14 to 28 days on arrival in Nairobi,” Deputy head of mission Waweru Kimani said in the note.
“Please note that the departure will be from Guangzhou on a date to be determined immediately the above information is availed,” Kimani further noted.
Kenyans welcomed the new development and acknowledged they are in touch with Kimani to facilitate the evacuation.
“Let’s allow him to deal with the leadership of all groups in China rather than individuals contacting him directly to make the task easy to handle,” one of the representatives said.
PS Macharia Kamau before the Foreign Affairs and Defence Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday
This comes just a day after Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau ruled out any possibility of evacuating Kenyans stranded in China.
Appearing before the Foreign Affairs and Defence Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday, PS Kamau said the logistical challenges would not allow mass evacuation as is being proposed by some Kenyans as “ndege sio matatu” (a plane is not a PSV vehicle).
He further added that a number of Kenyans living in China have not registered with the Kenyan embassy, which makes tracing impossible.
In an earlier press conference, Kamau said some Kenyans lacked documentation, while others did not want to come back to the country.
Kenyans have been victims of racial discrimination against Africans in China following a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. They have been evicted from their houses, denied entry in hotels as well as public transport.
UAE
In the United Arabs Emirates, Ambassador Kariuki Mugwe in a letter dated April 15 asked Kenyans who had not registered with the embassy to do so and indicate whether they want to travel back home.
Mugwe said there are 50,000 Kenyans in the UAE and only 13,000 have registered with the embassy and the consulate.
“We therefore appeal to all Kenyans residents in this country to register with any of our two missions in order to have an accurate number of residents here…. You may also wish to indicate whether you need to travel back home for us to start the process of seeking relevant clearances and approval for the travel,” Ambassador Mugwe said in the notice.
UAE hosts many Kenyans working in various parts of the country.
