Despair rules in Lebanon as Kenyan workers cry out for help

Emergency service personnel and residents gather at the site of an Israeli strike that killed three people in Damascus, Syria, on October 2, 2024. [AFP]

As war rages in Lebanon, Kenyan migrant workers have found themselves between a rock and a hard place even as the Kenya government begins the process to evacuate them.

Those working in Southern Lebanon, the epicentre of the Israel-Hezbollah war, The Standard managed to speak to said they have been rendered homeless.
Earlier a distraught woman working as a domestic worker in Beirut went on TikTok narrating how she woke up only to find that her employer family had escaped and left her alone in the house.

“They planned to leave without telling me. I am all alone here yet they were telling me that we were are safe,” said the emotional immigrant.

23 year-old Nyanchoka Bosire, who has lived in Lebanon for 18 months, said her boss’ family was forced to flee their home and seek refuge in an abandoned village.

“There were mild explosives which gradually became intense. Things got out of hand. It turned to be a full war. Missiles after missiles, we couldn’t sleep,” Ms Bosire said.

“We left to Beirut a few days after the explosives became increasingly intense and came back two days later after the situation calmed. Unfortunately, we were forced to leave at 2am that very night after the missiles became intense,” she said on TikTok.

Bosire says they endure cold nights at a thicket in Jhiran and risk getting sick.

“We can’t access food and water. We are suffering. We are homeless,” she said.

Diana Nyaechero, who has had similar experiences since the war began, said it is been a nightmare. 

She said majority of Kenyan ladies working in Lebanon are suffering as she can tell from the WhatsApp group.

“I have been reaching out to some of my friends, people are in fear. I would like to be back home. The condition is worsening. I can’t sleep. We would like to ask the Kenyan government to find us a way to get back home,” she said.

Yesterday the government said Kenyans stuck in Lebanon have until October 12 to register for evacuation.

Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs Roseline Njogu said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started to register all Kenyans in the country. She said those seeking evacuation are supposed to fill a form online to facilitate the process.

“To ensure safety and timely evacuation of all our citizens, we urge all Kenyans in Lebanon to immediately register with us. Only registered Kenyans will be eligible for evacuation,” said Ms Njogu.

According to the PS, the government has successfully evacuated two groups of Kenyans from Lebanon.

“Our mission has been in constant communication with Kenyans in Lebanon. If you know Kenyans who are not in touch with the mission, it would be helpful if you pointed them to our communication on distress in Lebanon,” said Njogu.

Amid the horrors of the war, some Kenyans have resolved to come back to their families at home. However some are unable to think of returning home because of the many challenges they face.

Many told The Standard Wednesday that the hurdles they go through range from employers withholding their travel documents to lack of funds to frustrations from agents who resort to block them whenever they ask for help.

“My boss has withheld my passport. Some of us don’t even have money to pay our bosses for the remainder of our contracts if we decide to return home prematurely,” said a Kenyan who only identified herself as Bosire.

“I talk to my family and they are worried but there is little they can do since they can’t afford my fare back home. They depend on me. I have to keep pushing however hard it is.”  
Bosire says there is nowhere to turn to for help as the Kenyan Embassy in Lebanon was closed.