Kenyans Seeking to Leave China Offered Sh80,000 One-Way Flight Ticket

Kenyan nationals seeking to leave China amid the coronavirus pandemic will have to pay Sh80,468 for a one-way flight ticket to Nairobi, the Kenyan embassy in Beijing has said.

The flight will leave Guangzhou for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi on Friday, May 1st and those willing to buy the ticket have been asked to urgently send their bio-data as well as Chinese visa pages of their passport to info@Kenyaembassy.cn for processing.

The embassy, in a notice on Thursday, clarified that the facilitation was not an evacuation and hence passengers have to pay for the flight from their own pockets.

Only passengers holding a valid Kenyan passport will be allowed to board the chartered plane in Guangzhou. They will also be required to prove they are free of Covid-19 before leaving China and agree to undertake a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon landing in Nairobi.

The move comes amid increasing pressure both at home and from the diaspora community for the government to rescue Kenyans stranded in China.

Kenyans and Africans in China were subjected to mistreatment by Chinese authorities imposing tight lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Others were kicked out of their apartments and also denied access to public places including shopping malls, hospitals, and subways over accusations of spreading the bug.

Photos and videos of Africans sleeping on the streets in Guangzhou after being evicted from their houses and hotels emerged last week, sparking public outrage.

As of Wednesday, April 22nd, over 150 Kenyans in China had contacted the embassy expressing their willingness to purchase a flight ticket back home.