Foreign Principal Secretary Kipkori Sing’oei on Monday confirmed that the Government of Kenya had repatriated four Turkish nationals who were allegedly abducted on Friday last week in Nairobi back to their government.
According to the Principal Secretary, the four were repatriated back to their country at the request of their government.
Sing'oei, however, assured that the Turkish Government had assured Kenya that it would uphold human rights when handling the four.
‘’Kenya confirms that four Nationals of the Republic of Türkiye were repatriated to their home country on Friday, 18 October 2024, at the request of the government of Turkiye,'' Sing’oei revealed in a statement.
''Kenya acceded to this request on the strength of the robust historical and strategic relations anchored on bilateral instruments between our respective countries,’’ he added.
According to Sing’oei, the four Turkish citizens had been staying in Kenya as refugees before the decision to send them back to their homeland came through.
''The four have been residing in Kenya as refugees. The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has received assurances from the Turkish authorities that the four will be treated with dignity in keeping with national and international law,’’ he added.
According to the PS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also not answer media queries in regard to the individuals until an ongoing review of them is complete.
This will allow Kenya to accord them a right to privacy and help both governments to keep the confidentiality of the matter at par.
''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,'' the PS stated.
''Kenya assures the international community of its unswerving commitment to the protection and promotion of refugee rights as prescribed under national and international law. 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,’’ he added.
The four were part of a group of seven individuals who were on Friday reportedly abducted by unknown people in Nairobi and were picked from different locations, according to a story done by Kenyans.co.ke.
They were abducted alongside a British national, who revealed that on the fateful day, two vehicles intercepted and blocked them from the front and behind, then the occupants came out fully armed before pulling the risky maneuver.
"About eight persons armed with weapons emerged from the two vehicles, pulled out the two occupants" and drove off with them,'' Police Spokesperson Resila Onyango told the media.
