Kenyan women who are stranded in Beirut, Lebanon, where there was a blast last week, are crying out to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to assist them return back home.
In an amateur video making rounds on social media, the more than ten women said they are homeless and are not in a position to return back home.
One of the women in the video clip says other countries were already getting their citizens out of the country.
“We are hopeless here in Lebanon, we want to go back to our country, we don’t have food and even water to drink. We are stranded here in Lebanon, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, our President, our Deputy President William Ruto, and the government at large, please, we need your help,” the woman says.
CRY FOR HELP
She further says that they don’t money for air tickets and can’t even afford their daily meals.
Other women in the video say they were thrown out of their jobs immediately after the blast. One of them is seen breastfeeding her baby.
Kenyan domestic workers in #Lebanon #Beirut are begging to be repatriated. They were thrown out of their places of work without their pay. They don’t have money to buy air tickets. Video received via WhatsApp from one of the workers. @ForeignOfficeKE @StateHouseKenya #SemaUkweli pic.twitter.com/WGt08xKpqs
— The People’s Watchman (@bonifacemwangi) August 10, 2020
Two weeks ago, CNN published a story detailing how the Kenyan Honorary Consul in Beirut Mr Sayed Chalouhi allegedly physically and verbally assaulted Kenyan women seeking services at the outpost.
The women also accused Sayed and his assistant Kassem Jaber, both Lebanese nationals, of overcharging them and pressuring them to pursue sex work to raise money for their travel back home. Sayed and his assistant Kassem denied these claims.
The number of Kenyans working in Lebanon, mostly as domestic workers, is estimated at 1,000.
The blast caused anti-government protests which left 160 people dead and more than 1600 injured.
