Revealed: How armed groups, strict border rules are keeping 129 Kenyans stuck in Myanmar
Kenyan Ambassador to Thailand Kiptiness Lindsay Kimwole has revealed that Thailand has imposed strict regulations on foreigners stranded at the border.
Several challenges, including strict immigration policies, conflicting armed groups and Myanmar’s bureaucratic processes, are hindering the repatriation of 129 Kenyans rescued from Myanmar.
Kenyan Ambassador to Thailand Kiptiness Lindsay Kimwole has revealed that Thailand has imposed strict regulations on foreigners stranded at the border, allowing only 300 individuals to enter the country daily from a total of 7,000 victims.
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The 129 Kenyans are among numerous foreigners who were lured to Myanmar with the promise of lucrative jobs, only to fall into the hands of scammers who forced them to commit various online crimes, including fraud, identity theft, phishing, romance scams and cryptocurrency fraud.
Kimwole explained that Thailand has placed stringent conditions for the reception of stranded foreigners at the border.
“These conditions include allowing only 300 foreigners to enter Thailand per day out of the 7,000 stranded at the Myanmar-Thai border,” he said in an interview with Citizen TV.
He added that foreigners other than Chinese nationals can only be received at the border point on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays have been designated exclusively for the Chinese victims.
Further complicating the process, Kimwole said Kenyans stuck at the border must obtain approval from Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs before crossing into Thailand. The requirement has posed additional challenges, delaying their evacuation.
“There is a problem here because the victims are in the hands of two armed groups—the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Border Guard Force (BGF), who are fighting the Myanmar military,” Kimwole said.
He explained that while the BGF is willing to hand over the victims to the Myanmar government, the DKBA has refused to do so.
“They want to hand over directly to Thailand (like the handing over of the first batch they undertook on 12th February), but Thailand does not want to deal with Non-State actors. Though they received the first batch from the DKBA, positions have since shifted,” Kimwole said.
“We have 47 Kenyans in the hands of DKBA and 82 in the hands of BGF. So the crisis is not over yet.”
Kimwole assured the public that the Kenyan government is working tirelessly to ensure the safe return of its citizens.
“The government is working round the clock to bring the Kenyans home,” he said.
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