Kenya’s Ambassador to China Sarah Serem on Wednesday, April, 22, broke her silence on reports that Kenyans in the country had been evicted from their houses and were sleeping on the streets
Serem, in a statement, rejected claims that some Kenyans had been thrown out of their houses.
She indicated that the Kenyan embassy had intervened in cases they had received of Kenyans who had been forcefully evicted.
“None that we know of slept in the streets and none that we know of was evacuated from their houses," Serem stated.
"These were all either retained in their house or taken to designated hotels funded by local authorities," she continued.
Kenyans living in China had accused the embassy of not helping them at a time when discrimination against Africans in the country, was at its peak.
The government, on Saturday, April 18, announced that it would evacuate Kenyans in the country on condition that they would pay for their expenses.
Additionally, the embassy announced that one had to file their details with the embassy and had tested negative for Covid-19 with an accompanying certificate.
Since then, a number of Kenyans in the country have raised complaints about being quarantined and their passports seized by the Chinese government when they were en route to Beijing where the evacuation flight will take off from.
Some Kenyans have allegedly been forced into mandatory quarantine after planning a trip to the capital, Beijing in order to return back home.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, April 22, defended the government's decision to have Kenyans in other countries cater for their own air ticket.
He argued that since the government was battling unprecedented challenges, Kenyans abroad would be compelled to chip in and cover a section of the costs in order to be flown back into the country.
