Kenya's asylum image tainted as Turkish nationals are deported

Kenya’s reputation as a safe haven for refugees has been blemished with its recent deportation of four Turkish nationals who were under asylum protection.

The decision raises doubts about whether anyone seeking refuge can truly find a haven in Kenya or whether the country is merely a collaborator.

Until today, it is unclear whether the government processed the four men through the legal system as required by the law or if they were simply abducted and put on a flight home.

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei stated that the government chose to deport the four because they were allegedly wanted on treason charges in their home country.

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Speculation began to grow as human rights groups united to condemn the incident, asserting that the four men were living as refugees under the protection of the United Nations.

Days later, Sing’oei told the media that Genc, Yesila, Uzun and Tasci were flown out of Nairobi on October 19, at the request of Ankara.

“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has received assurance from the Turkish authorities that the four will be treated with dignity in keeping with the national and international law,” he said.

Amnesty International was among lobby groups that expressed concerns over the circumstances surrounding the men’s abduction and deportation to Turkey.

Prior to this incident, Kenya had acquired security equipment and some members of the disciplined forces underwent training in the country.

All seven kidnapped individuals had connections to organisations affiliated with Islamic preacher and businessman Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen was an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan until the latter accused him of orchestrating a botched coup attempt in July 2016, that left 250 people dead and more than 2,000 injured. Following these events, Gulen fled the country seeking refuge in the US.

Since then, Erdogan’s administration has been going after him and his business interests worldwide.

More than 2,500 life sentences have been handed out to perceived Gulen followers while more than 100,000 people have been fired by Erdogan for having links with the preacher.

This is not the first time that Kenya has been accused of rendering dissidents to the same government that they were running from.

In 1990, the Kenyan government vowed to send more than 1,000 refugees back to Uganda and Rwanda.

Despite appeals by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), some of them were assaulted by the police. Some of the Rwandan refugees were accused of spreading propaganda and raising funds to help rebels attack the government of Juvenal Habyarimana.

After the 1994 Rwandan genocide, refugees fled to Kenya and so did the alleged mastermind of the genocide Felicien Kabuga.

Abdullah Ocalan

Ocalan was a Turkish dissident handed over to the Turkish government by the Kenyan authorities. He led the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from 1978 until his arrest in 1999 in Kenya.

He arrived in Kenya as a journalist from Cyprus, aided by the Greek authorities, who had even planned for his accommodation at their ambassador’s residence. His stay was meant to be brief as he planned to settle in South Africa.PKK started a student’s uprising movement focusing on the oppression of the Kurdish people in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and most European countries.

Ocalan led the group from Syria until Turkey threatened a full-blown military action, leading to his expulsion in 1998. Before choosing Kenya, he sought refuge in Russia, Italy and Greece.

To this day, the PKK continues to fight for an independent Kurdistan region in Southeastern Turkiye and northeastern Iraq.

Selahaddin Gulen

In April 2021, Gulen’s nephew, Selahaddin, who had been living in the US, travelled to Kenya, where his wife, Serriye, was teaching. He was accused of belonging to a terrorist organization led by his uncle, Fethullah.While in Kenya, he visited the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters to clear his name of some of those accusations.

Accompanied by a friend, the two were kidnapped just outside the DCI offices. They went missing for days, with the friend being freed after five days. It took over 20 days for Selahaddin to resurface in Turkey.

A photo released by the government showed him in handcuffs standing between two Turkish flags, with the government claiming that he had been captured by their National Intelligence Organization (NIT).

Nnamdi Kanu

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist group in Nigeria, went missing in Kenya in June 2022. The group advocates for the restoration of the Republic of Biafra, which seceded from Nigeria in 1967 but was dissolved after being defeated in a civil war.

Kanu was first arrested by the Nigerian government in 2015 and charged with 11 counts related to treason and terrorism. Although the courts ordered his release, the government refused to comply. He was eventually granted bail in 2017 but fled the country. Kanu remained elusive until resurfacing in London, where he founded and operated Radio Biafra to advocate for the Biafran cause.

In 2021, he obtained a British passport and travelled to Kenya, where he was living until his rendition. According to his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, Kanu went to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to meet a Biafran leader. After parking underground, he was abducted by seven armed men as he exited his vehicle. Although his screams attracted the attention of bystanders, his captors claimed he was an Al Shabaab militant and that they were making an arrest.

Ejimakor alleged that Kanu was tortured for days before being flown back to Nigeria in a private jet, without going through the immigration system in Kenya. The Kenyan government denied involvement in his rendition. Kanu was subsequently arraigned in a Nigerian High Court on terror charges but the charges against him were dismissed.

Samson Tecklemichael

Samson Tecklemichael, an Ethiopian national from the Tigray region, was kidnapped in Kileleshwa on November 19, 2021, in broad daylight. While driving along the Ring Road, he was intercepted by men who forcibly removed him from his car and bundled him into a waiting Subaru, which drove off immediately, leaving his vehicle unattended in the middle of the road.

The incident was recorded by motorists and passersby and widely shared on X. At the time of his abduction, he had been in Kenya for 16 years and operated a gas business.

Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak

Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak, a South Sudanese national, was kidnapped on February 4, 2024, by individuals claiming to be police officers. According to Human Rights Watch, he was taken from his home, and the officers also assaulted his wife.

Bak had been a registered refugee in Kenya since fleeing South Sudan after receiving death threats. Neither government has provided information about Bak’s current whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

Arshad Shariff

Arshad Shariff, a Pakistani investigative journalist, sought refuge in Kenya after facing sedition charges for his reporting. Tragically, on October 23, 2022, he was killed by police who mistakenly believed he was driving a stolen vehicle. The High Court in Kenya later awarded his widow Sh10 million for wrongful death.