A suit seeking to compel the government to rescue, evacuate and repatriate more than 600 Kenyan citizens stranded in Cambodia has been certified as urgent by the High Court.
The court said the case raises serious constitutional issues that must be determined through a full trial.
It further noted that the 600 Kenyans, who claim to have been trafficked and subjected to exploitative and forced labour conditions, require urgent government intervention.
The court directed lawyers Martina Swiga, Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wambui to serve the suit papers on the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service.
All named respondents have been given 14 days to respond to the substantive allegations of violations of the petitioners’ rights.
The 600 Kenyans, through 10 representatives, moved to the Milimani High Court seeking urgent orders compelling the government to evacuate and repatriate them, citing torture, forced labour and inhuman treatment.
In the petition filed at the Nairobi Milimani Law Courts, the representatives Deriars Misiani, Brian Kimani, Callen Mosiango Morang’a, Davis Shahale Kiliru, Elizabeth Auma Olunga, Kibiro William Igathe, Michel Mwenesi, Starllone Onchwari, Samuel Esakina and Gloria Wanjohi said they had filed a representative suit on behalf of more than 600 other Kenyans trapped in the Southeast Asian country.
The petitioners have named the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, the Inspector General of Police, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Directorate of Immigration Services and the Office of the Attorney General as respondents.
In their pleadings, the petitioners claim they were lured abroad by agents who promised them lucrative employment opportunities in East Asia, including Vietnam and Thailand.
Upon arrival, they allege they were forcibly transferred to Cambodia, where their passports and mobile phones were confiscated, and they were subjected to forced labour under extreme conditions.
They claim they were forced to work up to 16 hours a day and were beaten, electrocuted and stabbed for failing to meet targets.
Some petitioners state they suffered sexual harassment, starvation and severe injuries requiring urgent medical attention.
They further allege that although Cambodian police later raided the premises where they were being held, the perpetrators escaped, leaving the Kenyans destitute and stranded.
The petitioners accuse Kenyan authorities of failing to provide adequate consular assistance and deny claims that they refused to return home.
They are asking the court to order the government to immediately verify the victims’ identities, issue emergency travel documents, facilitate their evacuation within 48 hours and meet the cost of repatriation.
The claimants say they have exhausted all reasonable informal avenues of assistance in vain and that the court is now their last source of hope.
