The plight of Kenyans living and working in Lebanon remained in limbo despite government assurances that it had put in place proper structures to evacuate them as the airstrikes in the Middle East nation intensified on Wednesday morning.
A confidential source who interacted with the stranded Kenyans in Lebanon told Kenyans.co.ke that the Government of Kenya had done little to rescue her citizens, some of whom had been forced to stay on the streets under intense strikes after their employers forced them out of their homes.
The source, an individual working with an international Non-Governmental Organization(NGO) as a security expert, revealed that most of the affected Kenyans that he has interacted with were robbed of their travel documents.
”There are cohorts of Kenyans and other nationalities who have been forcibly moved from their areas of residence with some being held at homes,’’ the source revealed.
”Some do not have passports, are living on the streets, and are unable to move as they have no way to communicate,’’ he added.
Our source also maintained that he has been working behind the scenes to offer advice to Kenyans and other individuals to move to safer areas amid heavy bombing.
He added that there was still heavy bombing in Nabatia, an area where he has interacted with many Kenyans, noting that they were confused about what to do.
”I have been offering Kenyans and other nationalities advice on where to move to because they do not know the targeted areas. I have advised some of them to move to Mount Lebanon as the area is somehow safe,’’ he revealed.
”This morning, there was a lot of bombing and airstrikes in Nabatia and nobody is there to advise the affected people on where to go,’’ he added.
In response to a story Kenyans.co.ke published on Tuesday, October 15, the source revealed that he wrote a letter to the Office of the Ombudsman (with a copy sent to us) expressing the real situation on the ground but he is yet to receive a response. In the letter, the source references a statement made by Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, Roseline Njogu, assuring the Office of the Ombudsman of key progress in securing Kenyans.
He also expressed fear that many Kenyans had not registered with the government despite reports that out of the estimated 26,000 Kenyans living in Lebanon, 7,000 had registered for evacuation.
The PS in her letter added that 35 Kenyans had reached out to be evacuated but 5 failed to show up when travel arrangements were made
”On the reports I read from the Ombudsman acknowledging a receipt of feedback from the Department of Foreign Affairs, I cannot confirm or deny, but the truth is that there are dozens of Kenyans here and no one has been contacted by the government,’’ he asserted.
‘’The online registration is there but not many of them have onboarded it, they are very confused here based on reports from social media.”
Read the Original article on https://www.kenyans.co.ke
