One thousand, three hundred and fifty Kenyans in situations of distress have been rescued in the last 16 months.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura on Thursday said the rescue involved various cases which include kidnappings and human trafficking.
Mwaura spoke during his address to the media on the achievements attained by the government in terms of service delivery to Kenyans in the last 16 months.
"We now have a diaspora placement agency, it will help Kenyans get jobs abroad, it is under the state department for diaspora affairs so it is now going to be dedicated to even deal with issues of evacuation," Mwaura said.
"For example, in the last 16 months, Kenya has been able to rescue 1,350 Kenyans who were in situations of distress either they were kidnapped, human trafficking and those kind of things," he added.
The spokesperson estimated the current Kenyans in the diaspora to be at around three million, with the largest number being hosted in the US at 157,000 with another 139,400 and 100,000 being hosted in the UK and Saudi Arabia respectively.
He, however, said the numbers are just conservative figures as some Kenyans don't get registered.
According to Mwaura, the government was able to receive Sh624 billion in terms of remittances in the last year alone.
"We want more people to go away and work there that’s why you have 2,500 nurses that are going to work in Saudi Arabia alone against a target of 350,000," Mwaura said.
"We also have another 30,000 people who are required in Israel, the first batch of 100 youth in the National Youth Service are being trained to go."
Early this week, NYS announced 900 job vacancies for graduates in the Middle East-United Arab Emirates.
In a statement on Monday, NYS said that there were exciting career opportunities highly recommended for graduates in the United Arabs emirates.
"Working in an established award-winning global leader in shipyard and maritime industry, our graduates will not only be seeking employment but also get an opportunity to showcase and grow their talent," the statement read.
The 900 job opportunities have salaries ranging from Sh69,000 to Sh163,000.
The opportunities include positions of pipe filter (100) pipe welder (100), platter fabricator (100), welder FCAW (100), welding foreman (40), plater foreman (40) and piping foreman (20)
