State Department of Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei (PHOTO: FILE)
Kenya has confirmed four Turkish nationals abducted on Friday have been repatriated to their home country.
State Department of Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei said Monday, October 21, that this was done at the request of their country.
He said the rights of the four will be upheld after assurances from Turkish authorities.
“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has received assurances from the Turkish authorities that the four will be treated with dignity in keeping with national and international law. Kenya is committed to the privacy and confidentiality of the repatriated individuals and will refrain from responding to media inquiries on the subject until the ongoing inter-agency review of the case is complete,” he said.
“Kenya acceded to this request on the strength of the robust historical and strategic relations anchored on bilateral instruments between our respective countries."
He also expressed the government’s commitment to the international community to protect and promote refugee rights as prescribed under national and international law.
“Kenya is committed to the privacy and confidentiality of the repatriated individuals and will refrain from responding to media inquiries on the subject until the ongoing inter-agency inquiry review of the case is complete,” he said.
“As such, the rights welfare and well-being of the more than 780,000 refugees residing in the country will remain the government’s singular priority.”
This came amid pressure from various parties to stop the planned repatriation.
A total of even Turkish citizens were Friday abducted by unknown people in Kileleshwa, Nairobi.
Three of them were however later released by the said abductors.
The incident happened in the Kileleshwa area while the foreigners were driving to their office in the morning hours.
They are teachers in Nairobi. Mustafa Genç, his son Abdullah Genç, Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Necdet Seyitoğlu, Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı and his wife Saadet Taşçı were the individuals that were kidnapped.
Abdullah Genç, Necdet Seyitoğlu and Saadet Taşçı were later released by the kidnappers.
Necdet Seyitoglu who is an education consultant in Nairobi said after being abducted, they were taken around for at least eight hours.
"It happened in the morning around 7:30 am, a white vehicle blocked our way and four men armed with guns jumped into our car," Seyitoglu said.
"They covered our faces and took us around for eight hours, they took away my mobile phone and a laptop.”
He said the car that blocked them was a white Jeep while they were in an office van.
Their vehicle was intercepted by men in balaclavas and were bundled into vehicles to unknown destination.
Seyitoglu said the abductors refused to identify themselves and only asked them what they were doing in the country.
"After the ordeal, I was dumped in an unknown location and one of the gunmen gave me Sh1,000 and ordered me to board a matatu as they proceeded with my colleagues," Seyitoglu added.
He said it took him about an hour to trace back to their office in Kileleshwa where he arrived around 4:30 pm to start tracing his counterparts who were still missing at the time.
The abductees were asylum-seekers registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who were protected from forcible return to Turkey, where they claimed they faced threats to their life and freedom.