On May 17, Peninah Wanjiru did what she has done every day since returning to Kenya from Saudi Arabia more than a year ago, wondering how much her daughter had grown.
The day marked her daughter's fourth birthday. But instead of wrapping presents or baking a cake, Wanjiru spent the day staring at photographs and videos on her phone, the only connection she still has with her child.
The resident of Bahati Constituency in Nakuru County imagines her daughter's smile, her height and wonders whether the little girl has started school or if she even remembers her mother. The two have not seen each other since March 2025, when Wanjiru was deported to Kenya.
“I keep wondering whether she knows where her mother is. This is the second birthday I have missed. I never imagined I would be separated from my daughter for this long….It is painful because I cannot provide for her, hug her, or tell her how much I love her,” she said
Ms Penina Wanjiru, 31, a resident of Bahati in Nakuru County, whose three-year-old daughter has been trapped in Saudi Arabia for more than five months. Ms Wanjiru travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 and was deported back to the country in March 2025, leaving her daughter behind.
Photo credit: Pool
Her latest ray of hope came on July 3 when she travelled to Nairobi and visited the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to begin a process she hopes will finally reunite her with her daughter.
There, she submitted DNA samples required to establish her biological relationship with the child and paid Sh17,000 to facilitate the testing process.
The DNA analysis is expected to form part of the documentation needed to support efforts to have the child released and allowed to travel from Saudi Arabia to Kenya.
Raising the money was not easy as Wanjiru depends on casual jobs, but with the help of friends and well-wishers, she managed to raise the amount.
“I have done everything they asked me to do. I was told to wait for two weeks for the results. Now I am just praying that the process moves quickly because every day without my daughter feels like a lifetime,” she said.
For Wanjiru, the DNA samples represent far more than a scientific procedure but capture a mother’se hope that one day she will hold her daughter again.
Wanjiru travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 after securing a job through an agency that promised a stable salary and favourable working conditions.
For nine months, she worked diligently as a domestic worker, enduring long hours, homesickness and cultural barriers. Her dream was to work hard, send money home, educate her siblings and eventually start a small business after completing her contract. But things soon changed.
She alleges that her employer became abusive, forcing her to seek help from her recruitment agent in the hope of finding another household where she could complete her contract.
Then, in 2021, her life took an unexpected turn after she discovered she was pregnant. The news brought both joy and fear. Pregnancy for a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia is often complicated and many women risk losing their jobs or facing punishment for conceiving out of wedlock.
Fearing deportation, Wanjiru chose not to inform her employers or the authorities.
“When I learnt I was pregnant, I only informed the people I was staying with and we agreed to keep it to ourselves. When the time came to deliver, I called a doctor who assisted me to give birth at home,” she said.
For seven months, she cared for the child herself before placing her in daycare and returning to work.
“I kept her hidden from the authorities,” she recalled in an interview with Nation.
In February 2025, Wanjiru and her roommate had just returned home from work when police officers stormed their house.
Without allowing them to collect their belongings, the officers escorted them to a police station, where they were detained for three days. They were later transferred to another facility and held for more than two weeks as deportation proceedings began.
Fortunately, Kenyan embassy officials were alerted and visited the detainees.
Wanjiru informed them that she had a three-year-old daughter who had been left at a daycare centre when she was arrested. The officials promised that the child would be brought to her but that never happened.
Instead, Wanjiru was deported to Kenya, leaving her daughter behind in Saudi Arabia under the care of a woman who operated the daycare.
Ms Penina Wanjiru, 31, a resident of Bahati in Nakuru County, whose three-year-old daughter has been trapped in Saudi Arabia for more than five months. Ms Wanjiru travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 and was deported back to the country in March 2025, leaving her daughter behind.
Photo credit: Pool | Nation
Upon arriving in Kenya, she received a distressing message from the caregiver who infomed her she she could no longer keep the child and was considering taking her to an orphanage because the process of repatriating the minor to Kenya was taking too long.
Since then, Wanjiru has made countless trips to government offices, agencies and human rights organisations, seeking help to trace and bring home her daughter.
“It has not been easy. I have moved from one office to another seeking help. I just hope the Ministry will help bring back my daughter. They promised to take care of the flight expenses,” she said.
According to Wanjiru and other deported Kenyans, Saudi authorities do not register children born to undocumented foreign workers, leaving many children without identification or travel documents.
As a result, many children are separated from their mothers during deportation with some ending up in orphanages or on the streets.
Lucy Muthoni, another Kenyan who was deported from Saudi Arabia last year says there are many Kenyans still detained in the Gulf nation.
She explained that some are awaiting deportation, while others are accused of breaching employment contracts or lacking proper documentation.
Many, she says, had fled abusive employers.
“In some instances, communication with the outside world was completely cut off after Wi-Fi access was withdrawn, effectively isolating me from my family back in Kenya, friends and fellow Kenyans in Saudi Arabia,” Muthoni said.
She added that a significant number of Kenyans, particularly women, remain in Saudi prisons.
“Some are there because they left abusive employers while others are accused of immigration or contract violations. They need support from the Kenyan authorities to secure their release,” she said.
According to Muthoni, many women are misled by recruitment agents, trapped in exploitative working conditions and later criminalised when they attempt to escape abuse.
“Before leaving Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Kenyans gave me lists of phone numbers and asked me to contact their families and inform them of their plight. I have tried reaching many of them, but we now need government intervention,” she said.
She urges women to seek accurate information about working conditions, understand their contracts and know their rights before leaving the country.
Kenyan authorities have recently intensified engagements with the Saudi government to secure the release of detained workers and streamline labour migration policies aimed at protecting migrant workers.
