Kenya's ambiguous ban on labour migration to Lebanon as tensions escalate in Middle East

Kenya now claims there has been a ban on labour migration to Lebanon for several months, yet no public ban notice was issued or can be traced.

Diaspora Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu, replying to questions posed by The Eastleigh Voice on the status of Kenyans in Lebanon, said, "A ban on labour migration to Lebanon has been in place since last year. However, a number of Kenyans have travelled to Lebanon, the ban notwithstanding, by using circuitous routes meant to obscure their final destination."

The Eastleigh Voice had asked the State Department of Diaspora Affairs to clarify the number of Kenyans living and working in Lebanon, and why the Kenyan government failed to heed an urgent parliamentary recommendation in August last year to ban the recruitment and export of Kenyan workers to Lebanon until the volatile political situation stabilises.

This outlet also inquired about the current evacuation plans as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, and whether the Kenyan Honorary Consul in Beirut—previously accused by Kenyan women of gross misconduct, including stealing money, physically assaulting them, and attempting to coerce them into sex work—was leading the evacuation efforts.

In a carefully crafted response, the Diaspora official ignored questions about the Honorary Consul, who is a Lebanese citizen, but said, "an evacuation plan has been developed."

She added, without further details, "We are carefully monitoring the situation, and an inter-ministerial team is in place. The government stands ready to protect the rights of its nationals in diaspora, as it always has."

"Recall our success in evacuating Kenyans from Israel and Sudan in 2023," Njogu, the pioneer Principal Secretary of the newly established department under the foreign office, said.

There are 26,000 Kenyans in Lebanon, the majority of whom are domestic workers.

Lebanon's ongoing economic collapse has severely impacted its migrant domestic worker population, many of whom now wish to be repatriated.

Under the Kafala (sponsorship) system, domestic workers typically do not have the right to end their contracts and depend on their employers—who often retain their passports and sometimes lock them inside their houses—to allow them to return to their home countries.

On Tuesday morning, the State Department of Diaspora Affairs issued an advisory with contact information for evacuation purposes.

"Kenyans in Lebanon, we have noted with deep concern the unfolding situation in Lebanon," the statement read.

"Urgently register with us through this link: https://tinyurl.com/2m9nw4ww or call +96590906719, +96171175006, or +254114757002 for evacuation purposes," the department headed by Roseline Njogu advised.

The region is on high alert after Iran vowed revenge on Israel, blaming it for the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

This outlet has also independently verified that Kenyans in Lebanon are indeed registering their presence through the same Honorary Consulate accused of mistreating them.