About 45 Kenyans stranded in Beirut, Lebanon are expected back in the country any time from Saturday.
According to the Kenyan Consulate in Beirut, the 45 Kenyans already have their tickets following processing of their emergency travel documents by local authorities.
Lebanese Immigration officials have granted permission to 75 Kenyans to travel back home. Some of them lack travel documents such as passports.
“The consulate with the cooperation of the Immigration department was able to clear 75 names of Kenyans who are no longer with their sponsors,” Kassem Jaber, the assistant consul-general, told the Nation.
It is not yet clear which airline the Kenyans will use to travel back to Kenya.
This new development comes after a lot of pressure was exerted on the Kenyan Consulate in Beirut.
The Kenyans who asked for assistance to travel back home following a blast in Lebanon early in the month accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of negligence and turning a blind eye on their plight.
The Kenyan Consulate in Beirut is run by Lebanese officials but is under the Kenyan Embassy in Kuwait headed by Amb Halima Mohamud.
Distressed Kenyans have been camping outside the consulate demanding to be evacuated.
A few weeks ago the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), a charity in Beirut raised alarm over the treatment of Kenyan women by the consulate.
IHRC representative Romanos Raad, said it was wrong for pregnant women to sleep outside the consulate when they should be assisted.
“If they don’t have passports, it doesn’t mean they should be on the streets. The consulate should provide them with emergency travel documents,” Raad said.
They erected small tents along the consulate’s pavement to shelter themselves.
Mohamud in response accused the group of being uncooperative adding that some of them were undocumented which made the whole process difficult.
