Court allows police to deport 9 Eritreans

Fourteen foreign nationals when they appeared before a Maralal Court on July, 4, 2022 for being in the country illegally 

Photo credit: Geoffrey Ondieki | Nation Media Group

A court in Maralal, Samburu County, has allowed police to deport nine Eritrean nationals after they failed to qualify for asylum in Kenya.

The foreigners were among 14 people arrested in Samburu earlier this month allegedly en route to Nairobi. Five of them were jailed for six months after they pleaded guilty to being in Kenya unlawfully.

Last week, the same court allowed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to take the nine individuals to the offices of the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR in Nairobi for possible registration as refugees. 

The nine had told the court they were fleeing unrest in Tigray and wished to seek asylum in Kenya.

But the UNHCR concluded that they did not qualify for asylum.

On Wednesday, they were charged in the Maralal court with illegal entry, contrary to Section 53(1)(j) as read with Section 53(2) of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act No. 12 of 2011.

Following a report from the UNHCR, Maralal Senior Principal Magistrate John Tamar ordered the nine foreigners to be repatriated to Ethiopia immediately.

"I do order that the subjects herein be taken back to their country of origin and escorted by the DCI office or any other related government agencies," Mr Tamar ruled on Wednesday.

The suspects were arrested after the vehicle carrying them was intercepted on the Maralal-Rumuruti highway earlier this month. They were reportedly on their way to Nairobi.

Cases are rising of foreigners using fake documents to enter Kenya using the Moyale-Isiolo highway. They often use the bushy Barsaloi-Maralal road to avoid detection.