Kenya’s government offered a temporary amnesty to undocumented East African nationals after hundreds of Burundians flocked to their country’s embassy in Nairobi on Monday seeking travel documents, fearing a crackdown on small-scale traders from abroad.
Kenyan President William Ruto last week called on authorities to close down all small-scale businesses operated by foreign traders, starting on Monday, following a meeting with Kenyan traders who had been protesting against tax reforms.
The order, which Kenya’s trade ministry said applied to foreigners operating without work permits, sparked chaos outside Burundi’s embassy on Monday, with some Burundians saying they had been threatened by neighbours since Ruto’s remarks.
There were no signs of a crackdown in Nairobi on Monday, and a spokesperson for Ruto’s administration later said the government had a policy of “absolute zero tolerance toward any form of harassment, intimidation, or xenophobia”, and urged undocumented nationals from other East African countries, and specifically from Burundi, to formally register at their embassies.
“For the duration of
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