This archive report was first published on 19 August 2021.
Kenya Airways aircraft at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
As the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, the Kenyan government is working to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn country. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least 12 Kenyans are stranded in Afghanistan, with only three having been evacuated so far.
On August 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that three Kenyans had managed to leave the country. One of them arrived in Kenya on Wednesday, while two others are expected to land today evening.
The Ministry has established that the stranded citizens were working for international organizations in Afghanistan. In a statement, the Ministry said, "Through diplomatic channels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the concerned organizations with a clear request to evacuate stranded Kenyans as a matter of urgency."
Kenya has no diplomatic relations nor accreditation in Afghanistan, but has reached out to its allies closer to the Middle-East nation to gather more information on any of its citizens stranded therein. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also reached out to its allies through the Kenya High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, which is the nearest Mission to Afghanistan.
Earlier in the week, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Amb Macharia Kamau told local media that Kenyans working in Afghanistan will be evacuated by their employers. He said, "The country has been unstable for a long while and we do not expect Kenyans to have gone to this country."
