Diaspora Affairs principal secretary, Roseline Njogu, on Wednesday, June 7, cautioned Kenyans against falling prey to job advertisements promising to send them to Malaysia.
In a statement, Njogu explained that some of the diaspora jobs were fake and called on Kenyans to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before making such applications.
She added that a number of unscrupulous businessmen were taking advantage of a visa-free agreement between Kenya and the South Asian country to dupe unsuspecting Kenyans into non-existent job vacancies.
“Kenyans, some of these diaspora jobs are fake. If unsure, please email us and we can give you information on the legitimacy of these opportunities working with our embassies,” Njogu stated.
The principal secretary also warned citizens against leaving the country without a valid work permit or immigrant visa for any job abroad noting that the visa-free deal was only valid for 30 days.
Njogu’s statement came after the Malaysian government on Monday, June 5, issued a warning to Kenyans in Malaysia and those planning to travel to the Asian country to obtain a valid visa if they intended to stay there for more than 30 days.
The 30 days visa-free entry was based on Kenya-Malaysia bilateral arrangement on a reciprocal basis.
“The attention of the High Commission has been drawn to the increasing number of Kenyans being lured into non-existent job opportunities by unscrupulous recruitment agencies taking advantage of the 30 days visa-free entry but end up getting stranded and abandoned laden with costs of return air ticket and overstay fines.
“As such, all Kenyans wishing to stay more than 30 days are required under Malaysian Immigration Laws to regularise their stay by obtaining a valid stay visa to avoid overstay and related immigration offences,” the statement read in part.
The Malaysian Government also cautioned that those who will fail to obtain a valid stay visa risk facing a jail term of up to six months.
The warning came barely a month after Foreign Affairs Ministry on May 10, refuted claims that a Canadian organisation was planning to hire 64 Kenyans for select jobs.
The government flagged a fake advertisement notice warning citizens against being duped into unrealistic diaspora jobs.
Kenya High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, also declared that the advertisement that was circulating online promising jobs for Kenyans to work in Canada was inauthentic.
