Burundi’s Deaf Ear: Regime Turns a Blind Eye to Nationals Stranded in Kenya

Burundian nationals in Kenya are facing severe uncertainty and mounting tensions following President William Ruto’s announcements regarding informal trade conducted by foreign nationals.

In early September 2026, the Kenyan president ordered foreign nationals working in the retail and informal trade sector without valid work permits to either leave the country or cease operations.

The authorities granted a 90-day grace period for undocumented foreign nationals to register, regularize their status, and secure the necessary permits.

The cry of distress from Burundian nationals in Kenya directed at the Burundian authorities intensified following the Kenyan government’s sudden crackdown on informal foreign trade.

Several Burundians saw their businesses looted and vandalized by locals, while others experienced physical assaults and various forms of violence.

Hundreds of Burundians rushed to their embassy in Nairobi to secure travel documents or emergency laissez-passers to leave the country, resulting in intense crowding and friction.

To date, the authorities in Bujumbura have remained indifferent and unresponsive to their citizens' desperate pleas.

It is worth noting that the majority of Burundian nationals in Kenya possess neither passports nor any other travel documents, leaving them in unprecedented precarity and unable to fund their own return home.

The Burundian government continues to deploy thousands of troops to eastern DRC amid a conflict where Gitega acts as a proxy, yet it chooses to turn a blind eye to its population struggling in Kenya.