Gov’t to Facilitate Repatriation of Kenyans Stranded in Lebanon

The government has listened to the cry of Kenyans stranded in Lebanon amid an economic crisis coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Kenyan Embassy in Kuwait—which is accredited to Lebanon—pledged to facilitate the repatriation of citizens stuck in the Middle East nation.

“We have communicated to the Kenyans to register with the consulate and we are already trying to address their issue. Since the resumption of flights, 30 Kenyans were facilitated back to Kenya in terms of providing them with the relevant documentation by our honorary consul,” Kenya’s Ambassador to Kuwait Halima Mohamud said.

Halima spoke a day after a video of a group of Kenyans appealing to the government and well-wishers to rescue them from Lebanon emerged on social media. The women said they were kicked out by their employers without pay and cannot afford to buy flight tickets to travel home. 

“We are hopeless here in Lebanon, we want to go back to our country, we don’t have food and even water to drink. We are stranded here in Lebanon, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta our President, our Deputy President William Ruto, and the government at large please we need your help. We don’t have money to pay for our tickets. We can’t even afford our daily meals,” a woman says in an emotional appeal.

CNN last month published a story detailing how the Kenyan Honorary Consul in Beirut Mr. Sayed Chalouhi allegedly physically and verbally assaulted Kenyan women seeking services at the outpost.

The women also accused Sayed and his assistant Kassem Jaber—both Lebanese nationals—of overcharging fees and pressuring them to pursue sex work to raise money for their travel back home. Sayed and his assistant Kassem denied these claims.

The Kenyan embassy in Kuwait is accredited to Lebanon but due to the distance between the two nations, the government appointed the Lebanese Honorary Consul to handle Kenyan affairs in that country. The number of Kenyans working in Lebanon, mostly as domestic workers, is estimated at 1,000.