More than 300 Kenyan jobseekers turned back from Saudi Arabia over Ebola rules

More than 300 Kenyans who travelled to Saudi Arabia to look for work were refused entry and have been sent home. They left Kenya on 30 October on valid work visas, were stranded at an airport in Saudi Arabia for two days and arrived back at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi on 2 November, The Standard reported.

Speaking to the media at JKIA, the workers said they were treated harshly and had one meal a day. "We were treated so harshly as though we had leprosy," said Kanyi Njau, one of the workers. Some said they lost luggage, and some said they had sold land or household property, or taken loans, to pay recruitment agents and cover visa and travel costs. They are asking the Kenyan government to resolve the standoff before their visas expire.

Saudi Arabia's Public Health Authority, known as Weqaya, announced the measures on 30 October, Khaleej Times reported. Saudi citizens are barred from travelling to Kenya. The issuance of all types of visas to travellers from Kenya has been suspended. Entry to Saudi Arabia is barred for anyone who lived in Kenya or another Ebola-affected country within the 21 days before arrival, including people transiting through other countries. In June, Saudi Arabia had suspended travel by its citizens and residents to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan.

Kenya's Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has sent Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry a diplomatic note asking it to reconsider the suspension of travel and visa issuance for Kenyans, KBC reported on 31 October. The note accepts Saudi Arabia's right to protect its citizens but calls the measures against Kenya disproportionate and not supported by scientific health evidence. It cites the World Health Organization's (WHO) assessment that Kenya has contained the outbreak and its advice against travel and trade restrictions. Kenya says all nine confirmed cases trace to one cluster linked to an imported case reported on 6 October.

Kenya has asked Saudi Arabia to explain its restrictions to WHO within 48 hours, as the International Health Regulations (2005) require, The Star reported on 2 November. Kenya plans to raise the matter with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and has offered the Saudi Public Health Authority a detailed technical briefing. It argues the restrictions could harm pilgrimages, employment, education and trade between the two countries.

In a statement, Kenya's embassy in Riyadh called the visa suspension and the bar on anyone who has been in Kenya in the last 21 days "a blanket, punitive measure". Kenya has reported nine Ebola cases, two of them fatal.

The Association of Skilled Migrant Agencies of Kenya (ASMAK) asked the government to clarify the restrictions, including the 21-day provision and whether workers must quarantine in Kenya or in a third country. Its Secretary General, Monika Mwema, said: "We are caught off guard." She said "the losses are just too many" and that partners in Saudi Arabia are waiting for the workers, "but we are all in the dark."

Recruiters are also unsure how the restrictions affect the 90-day period within which migrant workers must travel after their visas are stamped. ASMAK wants urgent talks with the Kenyan government and Saudi authorities and said it is willing to meet President William Ruto.

Saudi Arabia remains Kenya's biggest market for labour mobility.