Four Kenyans have died in the ongoing conflict in
neighbouring South Sudan while more than 20,000 others have returned to
the country.
Three of the victims have been buried as
they were Muslims while the body of the fourth is yet to be brought
home, according to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho.
Dr Kibicho did not, however, say how the Kenyans died. He also did not disclose their gender.
“The
family of the fourth person is waiting for the body in Juba. The body
is in Bor area,” he told a press conference at Wilson Airport on
Thursday soon after welcoming 45 Kenyans who had been airlifted by a
military plane from the troubled country.
According to
the PS, the violence has left more than 1,000 people dead. It has also
displaced at least 200,000, disrupted trade and caused shortage of food,
water and medicine.
Dr Kibicho said the evacuation of
Kenyans from the volatile state would end with the last batch of 84
Kenyans expected to land on Friday.
This leaves an
estimated 7,000 Kenyans still trapped inside the conflict-torn nation
either out of their own volition or due to the fact that some are in
inaccessible areas where gunfire is raging.
Others had not registered with the Kenyan embassy in South Sudan, making it difficult reach them.
Dr Kibicho said 3,000 Kenyans had been airlifted
from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, by Thursday following the
violence pitting rival groups supporting President Salva Kiir and those
allied to former deputy president Riek Machar
On
Thursday, a total of 155 Kenyans — 45 aboard a military plane and 110 on
a chartered Kenya Airways flight — arrived home, much to their relief
and that of their loved ones.
Business owners
The PS said so far more than 20,000 Kenyans had returned home, some using their own means.
He
added that those who had refused to come back are business owners, with
1,500 remaining in Juba while others are in states such as Jonglei,
Upper Nile, Unity and Eastern Equatorial.
A statement
from the ministry says: “The Kenyan embassy in Juba has been extremely
active in this operation (evacuation). In addition to its efforts, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade set up a South Sudan
Crisis Response Team at the Nairobi headquarters manned by officers
from the ministry and security agencies.”
It says a
hotline +25420310325 was put in place and advertised. The ministry also
teamed up with Ushahidi on an SMS-to-Internet crowdsourcing effort that
allows Kenyans in South Sudan to send SMSs through +254717865554 to
communicate their whereabouts, condition and contacts to the ministry.
“The
information collected has been valuable to the Juba embassy and keeping
decision-makers informed of the condition of Kenyans in distress in
South Sudan,” says the statement.
SOURCE: Daily Nation
