The Burundi government has begun making arrangements to repatriate its citizens from Kenya following President William Ruto\u2019s directive to crack down on foreign nationals hawking goods in the country.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Burundi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Cooperation for Development confirmed the plans, saying they were being coordinated with the Burundi Embassy in Nairobi.<\/p>\n
“Burundi is preparing to send buses to Kenya, and the Embassy of Burundi in Nairobi will issue free laissez-passer documents to facilitate the return to Burundi for those who wish to leave Kenya,” the ministry stated.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, footage obtained by\u00a0Kenyans.co.ke\u00a0on Monday, September 7, showed large crowds of Burundian nationals flocking to the Machakos Country Bus Station with their luggage as they sought transport back home<\/p>\n
Similar chaotic scenes have also been witnessed at the busy Kenya-Uganda border at Malaba, where anxious travellers are scrambling to buy bus tickets to head home.<\/p>\n
Many others have also flocked to the Embassy of the Republic of Burundi in Nairobi, seeking free travel documents for repatriation as the situation heightens.<\/p>\n
President William Ruto, on September 2, directed authorities\u00a0to begin dismantling small-scale retail and hawking operations run by foreign nationals across Kenya, effective September 7, insisting foreign investment should target large ventures boosting production and jobs, not compete with local hawkers.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, led by Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui, warned that most of these foreign small-scale traders have violated visa or regulatory conditions, while those with the right visa requirements\u00a0must obtain an operating license to resume their businesses.<\/p>\n
In a rejoinder, the Burundi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concerns over the safety of its citizens, stating that several Burundian traders engaged in small-scale trade reportedly faced dispossession and unjustified violence while carrying out their daily business activities.<\/p>\n
It further noted that the subsequent speech by President Ruto last Wednesday worsened tensions, triggering further violence against Burundian citizens living in Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister also noted that these statements were followed by a speech from the Kenyan President, which exacerbated tensions and triggered violence targeting Burundian citizens,\u201d the statement said in part.<\/p>\n
While reiterating respect for Kenya’s sovereign trade decisions, Burundi urged authorities to uphold human dignity, insisting the East African Community (EAC) remains one united family.<\/p>\n
The government of Burundi has issued an ultimatum to the Kenyan government, stating that the safety of its nationals fully lies on the government of Kenya, as anything that happens to any of its citizens, it will be held responsible.<\/p>\n
“The Kenyan government will be held responsible for anything that happens to Burundian citizens, and\u00a0Burundi\u00a0reserves the right to take the necessary measures under the framework of reciprocity,” the statement added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, sections of Burundian nationals have called on President Ruto to relax the directive, saying the Wednesday order caught them unaware and unprepared.<\/p>\n
Source: kenyans.co.ke<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Burundi government has begun making arrangements to repatriate its citizens from Kenya following President William Ruto\u2019s directive to crack down on foreign nationals hawking goods in the country. In a statement, the Burundi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Cooperation for Development confirmed the plans, saying they were being coordinated with the Burundi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":97049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97050,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97048\/revisions\/97050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mustaqbalmedia.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}