Kenyan Embassy Moves to Evacuate Citizens from China Amid Escalating Xenophobia

The Kenyan Embassy in Beijing, China, has recently announced that it will be evacuating Kenyan citizens from the Asian country. The move comes in the wake of escalating racism and xenophobia towards Africans from Chinese citizens and establishments who fear a second wave of coronavirus.

There has been public outcry among Kenyan citizens who want the government to intervene on the maltreatment of Africans living in China. Reports of Africans being forced out of their homes in Guangzhou, China, have caused fear amongst its African community and backlash across social media.

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Macharia Kamau, initially responded to the public outcry saying, "This situation has been extremely worrisome to all of us. The reality is that this has been a very unfortunate outcome." Kamua added that, "Africans, Kenyans included, have been discriminated against in the process of [Guangdong provincial] government's response to mop up the situation that they are facing there, post-crisis."

Shortly after Kamau's statement, the embassy announced that it was making plans to evacuate Kenyan citizens from China. However, the embassy has since been criticised for requiring that citizens be able to not only foot their own bill but prove that they are coronavirus-free—the latter further requiring certification from Chinese medical authorities.

Understandably, Kenyans in China have criticised the embassy for making the conditions under which they are prepared to evacuate citizens difficult to meet. One Kenyan reportedly spoke to Sunday Standard saying, "They are asking for things that they know we can't get easily," going on to add that, "They know people can't get those health certificates right now."

Questions around the status of visas has been an additional anxiety.

Those on social media have also called on the embassy and broader government to do more to help those abroad.