Kenya’s government offered a temporary amnesty to undocumented East African nationals this week after hundreds of Burundians flocked to their country’s embassy in Nairobi seeking travel documents, fearing a crackdown on small scale foreign traders.
President William Ruto had called last week for authorities to close all small scale businesses operated by foreign traders starting Monday, following a meeting with Kenyan traders protesting tax reforms. Kenya’s trade ministry said the order applied to foreigners operating without work permits. The announcement sparked chaos outside Burundi’s embassy Monday, with some Burundians saying they had faced threats from neighbors since Ruto’s remarks.
A spokesperson for Ruto’s administration said Monday that the government maintained a policy of absolute zero tolerance toward harassment, intimidation or xenophobia, and urged undocumented nationals from other East African countries, particularly Burundi, to formally register at their embassies. “For the duration of this designated registration period, all individuals undergoing registration will be presumed legally present in the Republic of Kenya,” the spokesperson said, describing the window as designed to help people access health, banking and legal protections without fear.
What We Know So Far
The presidency followed up Tuesday with a more detailed statement specifying a 90-day window for unregistered foreigners to sort out their documentation. Presidential spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said all undocumented foreigners should use the amnesty period to regularize their status, warning that enforcement operations would begin once the 90 days elapsed. Mohamed said the government would not tolerate discrimination, lawlessness or violence against foreign nationals, and said registered foreigners’ rights to work in other sectors would continue to be protected.
Despite the amnesty, many Burundians gathered at their embassy said they remained determined to leave rather than trust the new assurances. Habonimana Jacques, a Burundian motorcycle taxi driver, said the amnesty felt like an afterthought and that he did not believe it would provide real security given ongoing harassment from some Kenyans. Eric Niyonkur, a Burundian secondhand clothes seller, said he felt unwanted in Kenya and that it was time to go home, adding that some people had camped at the embassy for two straight days without food.
Earlier in the week, 18-year-old Munezero Farnke, who said he had lived in Kenya for three years without identification documents, asked for at least a week to plan his return to Burundi or help crossing the border, saying he had originally planned to leave next year on his own terms. Sixty-two-year-old Peter Nakumujango said he was not leaving Kenya by choice but felt forced to go, describing uncertainty among the large crowds waiting for assistance.
There are roughly 16,000 Burundian refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya, according to the U.N. refugee agency, many of whom work in small businesses in Nairobi selling goods such as coffee and used clothing. Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper and NTV Uganda television separately reported that Ugandans in Kenya were also heading back across the border, though this could not be independently verified, and Uganda’s police did not respond to requests for comment. Burundi’s ambassador to Kenya and Foreign Affairs Minister Edouard Bizimana did not respond to requests for comment.
Why This Matters
Critics have accused Ruto of blaming foreigners for Kenya’s economic difficulties as he prepares to seek reelection in polls due next year. Activist Hanifa Adan wrote in the Daily Nation newspaper that when a state runs out of answers for a collapsing economy, it invariably goes looking for an enemy, a critique that frames Ruto’s crackdown as a political response to broader economic frustration rather than a targeted policy response to specific harms caused by foreign traders.
The order fits into a broader pattern of economic nationalism from Ruto’s government. Last Thursday, Ruto ordered India’s Tata Chemicals to halt operations in Kenya, saying the company’s presence had failed to benefit the country; Tata Chemicals said it respected the Kenyan government’s authority and remained committed to constructive engagement. Taken together with the crackdown on small scale foreign traders, these moves suggest a broader effort by Ruto to position his government as prioritizing Kenyan economic interests ahead of next year’s election.
The gap between the government’s stated zero tolerance policy toward xenophobia and the lived experience described by Burundians at the embassy, who reported ongoing harassment and threats from neighbors, highlights a disconnect between official assurances and conditions on the ground that the amnesty program alone may not resolve.
What Happens Next
The 90-day amnesty period gives undocumented East African nationals in Kenya a window to regularize their status, with enforcement operations set to begin once that period ends. Many Burundians at the embassy indicated they intend to leave regardless of the amnesty, suggesting the program may not fully achieve its stated goal of bringing undocumented residents out of hiding rather than prompting their departure.
Kenyan authorities are expected to coordinate the registration process with regional partners, according to the presidency’s statement, though details of that coordination and how enforcement will be carried out after the amnesty period ends have not been fully specified. The political fallout from the episode is likely to continue as critics link the crackdown to Ruto’s reelection strategy ahead of next year’s vote.
Reporting drawn from Reuters and Africanews
