NAIROBI, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Hundreds of Burundians flocked to their embassy in Nairobi on Tuesday to get travel documents to return home, saying they feared violence even after Kenya announced a temporary amnesty for undocumented East Africans in the country.
Many said they had faced threats after Kenyan President William Ruto last week told authorities to close down all small-scale businesses operated by foreign traders as that work should be left to locals only.
The presidency issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would still safeguard the rights of registered foreigners to work there in other sectors – and give unregistered people 90 days to sort out their papers.
‘WE FEEL UNWANTED HERE’
Burundians at their embassy told Reuters they still wanted to leave, saying they doubted the amnesty would protect them.
“The president has treated us like we are not human beings,” Habonimana Jacques, a Burundian motorcycle taxi driver, told Reuters.
He said amnesty had been announced as an afterthought. “Even if we decide to remain we won’t have security because most Kenyans are already harassing us.”
Burundi’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Edouard Bizimana, did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
“We feel unwanted here … it’s time to go home,” Eric Niyonkur, a Burundian second-hand clothes seller, told Reuters. Some of those at the embassy had camped there for two straight days without food, he added.
Ugandans in Kenya were also heading back across the border, Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV Uganda television reported. Reuters was not able to verify the report. A spokesperson for Uganda’s police did not immediately respond when contacted for comment.
There are about 16,000 Burundian refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Many work in small-scale businesses in Nairobi, selling items such as coffee and used clothes.
Critics of the anti-immigration crackdown have accused Ruto, who is expected to seek re-election in polls due next year, of blaming foreigners for Kenya’s economic difficulties.
In Tuesday’s statement from the presidency, spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said all undocumented aliens should use the 90-day amnesty to regularise their stay and warned enforcement operations would begin after the three months had elapsed.
He warned against xenophobia and said authorities would not tolerate any discrimination, lawlessness and violence against foreign nationals.
(Reporting by Monica Mwangi; Edwin Okoth and Humphrey Malalo; Additional reporting by Clement Manirabarusha in Bujumbura; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa, Ammu Kannampilly and Andrew Heavens)
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