Abduction haven: Kenya becoming a hostile country for asylum seekers

The culture of abductions in Kenya is seemingly becoming popular again, affecting both residents and foreigners alike.

Although Kenya is home to about 800,000 refugees, it is fast becoming a hostile ground for them, as a series of deportations and even killings within its borders paint a negative image of a country that has long prided itself on being a refuge for those fleeing persecution.

The alleged abduction and deportation of Uganda opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye from Westlands, Nairobi back to Uganda, adds to the growing list of foreigners Nairobi has deported to face uncertain fates.

While the Kenyan government has denied involvement in Besigye’s case, his wife, Winnie Byanyima, claimed that her husband was kidnapped and arrested in Nairobi on Saturday, November 16, and handed over to Ugandan authorities.

His charge sheet at the Uganda People's Defence Force General Court Martial at Makyinde-Kampala indicated that he committed the alleged offence at Riverside Apartments in Westlands, Nairobi.

"Is it safe for opposition politicians in Uganda to be in Kenya and stay there? Is it safe?" Obeid Rutae, Besigye’s lawyer, posed during the trial. 

The government's claim that it had no role in the abduction rings hollow, given the charges in Kampala, which would otherwise suggest a complete lack of awareness of what is happening within the country.

About a month ago, Kenya again made headlines for the wrong reasons, at least according to human rights organisations, both locally and internationally.

Nairobi repatriated four Turkish nationals on the Turkish government’s request, handing over Mustafa Genç, Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı, and Hüseyin Yeşilsu amid criticism from the international community, including the International Commission of Jurists and Amnesty International.

The four were repatriated against their will and in violation of the United Nations principle of non-refoulement, which is enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The convention states that asylum seekers and refugees cannot be returned to countries where their lives or freedoms would be in danger, regardless of their offences.

In 2022, Kenya was also in the international spotlight after Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was gunned down by Kenyan police officers in cold blood while driving his car in Kuenia Farm along Kamukuru Road in Kajiado County.

Opponents of the current Pakistani government believe that he was targeted in a plot organised in Pakistan due to an exposé that was awaiting airing.

Kenya was ordered to pay Ksh.10 million compensation to the family of the slain journalist, as the court ruled that the death was arbitrary and unconstitutional.

In November 2023, the family of missing Ethiopian national Samson Teklamichael, who was abducted in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, organized a peaceful march at the spot where Samson was abducted to mark two years since he was kidnapped by unknown individuals.

It is believed that Teklamichael, a fierce critic of the Ethiopian government, was abducted and handed over to Ethiopian agencies.

Twenty-five years ago, a similar story unfolded involving another Turkish national, Abdullah Öcalan.

In February 1999, when he arrived in Kenya, the Kurdish nationalist leader believed he had finally found a safe place, after years of being on the run from Turkey, where he was pursued for allegedly advancing a secessionist agenda and seeking Kurdish autonomy from Turkey.

However, no sooner had he jetted into the country than he was returned to the airport and sent back to Ankara, under the supervision of then Foreign Affairs Minister Bonaya Godana.

He was later condemned to a life of isolation on an island prison.