The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken an exceptionally wrong approach in handling Kenyans stuck in foreign countries. It has demonstrated callousness and cold-heartedness in responding to the plight of, particularly, Kenyans stuck in China and who are being abused, tortured and racially discriminated against on claims of transmitting coronavirus. The least we expected was that the ministry, through the Kenyan embassy in Beijing, would secure the Kenyans and evacuate them. But what we have seen is upsetting and appalling.
We detest the assertion by Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau that those seeking evacuation would have to foot the cost. Besides, they have to prove they are Covid-19-free and, once back home, go into 14-day quarantine. Not only is this inconsiderate but amounts to stigmatisation of coronavirus infection.
What is the role of consular services abroad if not to rescue citizens in distress? What is the cost of airlifting the citizens and saving their lives? What will the country lose by sending aeroplanes to bring them back? Is it here that the country would make savings when, everyday, its resources are looted and wasted through profligate spending?
The first step the government must take is to bring back those Kenyans from China. Next, it has to seek a diplomatic resolution to such cruelty on citizens now and in the future. A government should not abandon its citizens in a foreign land. It has responsibility over those abroad just as much as those at home.
Secondly, Kenya and other African states must make a strong statement to China that it cannot allow their nationals to be humiliated and tortured and still expect to have a cordial relationship with the continent. They must protest and let the whole world know that China is becoming roguish and impertinent.
On this, China should not be handled with kid gloves. It has to be reprimanded for its excesses and put where it belongs. There is no way it can be treated respectfully and affectionately when its nationals maltreat others. Neither should it be revered when it shows total disrespect for international conventions and protocols. Our governments tend to kowtow to China ostensibly because of economic ties, which fact gives it audacity to become unruly.
Betrayed Kenya and Africa
On the whole, China has betrayed Kenya, and Africa. China has diplomatic relations with Kenya and most African countries. It is a signatory to all international protocols that commit nations to protect foreign nationals within their respective territories.
In recent decades, China has emerged as a major development partner with Africa. It has secured huge contracts for infrastructure projects. It has become a major trading and development player. Chinese are engaged in many businesses in Africa. Concomitantly, Kenyans and other Africans have established business networks with China, travelling there in their hundreds to source for goods and services. On several occasions, Africa has expressed solidarity with Beijing as it faced off with the United States because the continent believed it was being wrongfully vilified.
It defeats reason that, when China has recorded relative success in the fight against coronavirus and with no provocation at all, it is venting anger on Africans and forcing them out of its territory.
Even if it were true that those Africans do not have valid immigration papers as is alleged, there are established protocols for dealing with such issues. They should be arrested, charged in court and, if found guilty, sent to prison or deported to their countries. But there is no provision in law where the citizens take it upon themselves to fish out foreign nationals from their rented houses, block them from going to restaurants or shopping malls and beat them up at will. That is sheer anarchy. Worse accusing Africans of transmitting coronavirus, when the actual cause and spread is known, is specious, irrational and reprehensible.
China, like the proverbial resident of a glass house, cannot afford to throw stones. Its nationals are scattered in all four corners of the world. They are to be found in every street in major African cities. In Kenya, they have penetrated deep into the villages and established all sorts of businesses. And they have found wide acceptance. If Kenyans, or Africans, were to avenge the ills being visited on their kindred in China, it would be catastrophic. Nobody wants to go there.
Beijing must stop the brutalities on Africans in China. Importantly, the Foreign Affairs ministry and its embassies abroad, notably Beijing, must rescue those stuck and suffering out there and bring them home. Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo and her staff must step up to the plate and do it.
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