Kenyan agents say over 50,000 Saudi job visas may lapse as Ebola travel curbs stay

More than 50,000 issued Saudi job visas could expire as Ramadan approaches because Saudi Arabia and Kuwait still restrict travel from Kenya over Ebola, private employment agencies warned, The Star reported on 6 November.

Juma Omar Mwangala, national chairman of the Kenya Association of Private Employment Agencies (KAPEA), read the association's statement in Mombasa on 5 November. The agencies urged the government to step up diplomatic talks with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and Mwangala urged the Ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs to keep engaging their Saudi counterparts.

Mwalimu Mwanguzo, a former KAPEA national chairman who now chairs its Supervisory Committee, said time was running out. "Travelling is a process, not an event. Some visas now have only one or two weeks left before they expire," he said.

Mwanguzo said Kuwait's restrictions followed the Saudi decision. "We fear that if we keep quiet, tomorrow we may hear that Qatar, Bahrain or Oman have also imposed bans," he said. He asked President William Ruto to intervene so that Muslims preparing for Umrah are not affected.

Abdalla Mohammed Naim, another former KAPEA chairman and a director at Naim Investments Limited, named passport applications, medical examinations, certificates of good conduct, transport and airline tickets among the services hit. "Many sectors have lost money, and even the Government has lost revenue because there is no travelling," he said.

The Eastleigh Voice reported on 5 November that agencies have spent heavily on air tickets, passport processing and medical examinations for workers due to fly to Saudi Arabia, and that thousands of jobseekers do not know when they will start work. KAPEA said Saudi employers and families who had completed visa processing and interviews are also affected, and that delays could hit travel planned ahead of Ramadan.

Saudi Arabia announced the indefinite measures on 30 October. Saudi citizens may not travel to Kenya, all visa categories are halted for people arriving from Kenya, and entry is barred to anyone who was in Kenya or another country with an active Ebola outbreak in the 21 days before arrival, including those coming through third countries, Citizen Digital and the Eastleigh Voice reported.

Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation told carriers not to board travellers from Kenya on flights to Kuwait International Airport, whether they fly direct or in transit, unless at least 21 days have passed since they left Kenya, HapaKenya reported on 2 November.

More than 350 Kenyan workers holding valid work visas were denied entry to Saudi Arabia and flew back to Nairobi on 2 November, the Eastleigh Voice reported on 3 November. The Association of Skilled Migrant Agencies of Kenya (ASMAK) said about 150 others were still in transit and documents for about 2,200 workers had been processed.

On the Kenyan side, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said on 31 October that the measures were "not only excessive but not backed by the current epidemiological situation". In a diplomatic note dated 30 October, reported by The Standard, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs called the measures "disproportionate and not supported by scientific health evidence" and urged Saudi Arabia to review and lift them. It asked Saudi Arabia's National Focal Point to notify the World Health Organization within 48 hours under Regulation 43 of the International Health Regulations (2005), and called for the restrictions to be reviewed within three months.

On 2 November, Ambassador Josphat Maikara, the ministry's Director-General for Political and Diplomatic Affairs, met Saudi Ambassador Saad Abdullah Al Nofaia and Kuwait's Chargé d'Affaires Sami Talal Alenezi and asked both countries to review and lift the restrictions. The two diplomats agreed to take Kenya's concerns to their governments and to arrange technical meetings between their health authorities and Kenya's Ministry of Health.

Maikara said Kenya has had no new Ebola case since 19 October. Kenya has nine confirmed cases, including two deaths.

Naim said Saudi authorities decide when the restrictions end. He cited Uganda, which has been under restrictions since June, as a reason for optimism: agents there had told him they expected the country to reopen soon after it is declared Ebola-free. Kenya has had no new cases since its 42-day countdown began, he said.

"These decisions are not ours to make," Naim said. "If we continue to contain it well, God willing, the doors will open."