Kenyans evacuated from Egypt
Hundreds of Egyptians gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square heeding a call by the opposition for a "march of a million" to mark a week of protests calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak's long term regime, on February 1, 2011. AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Protests against President Mubarak have continued despite sacking of Cabinet and appointment of VP
Kenya has started evacuating its citizens from Egypt due to the uprising against the North African country’s president.
Most are embassy employees, their families and university students.
The ministry of Foreign Affairs said the evacuation would continue until the situation normalised.
Popular protests have continued in all major Egyptian cities despite President Hosni Mubarak sacking his Cabinet and appointing a vice president for the first time in his 30-year rule.
The Egyptian leader has said that he supports the free will of the people and the right to demonstrate BUT that in some cases the demonstrators violated the legal boundaries.
The protests for the resignation of Mr Mubarak and for economic and democratic change started on January 25. Mr Mubarak, 82, has ruled the Arab world’s most populous country with an iron fist since 1981.
“The embassy is facilitating evacuation until the tension subsides,” a ministry official said.
Most Kenyans in Egypt are students in the universities in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. Most demonstrations have been concentrated in Cairo though the other cities have also been affected.
With flights to the North African country limited, the foreign ministry’s public affairs department said the mission in Cairo was coordinating with airlines to book Kenyan nationals on the few flights available.
The Kenyan mission in Cairo is also accredited to Tunisia where there has also been chaos in which the president fled after a popular uprising.
Other than Kenya, the United States, Canada, Turkey, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Azerbaijan and several Arab nations are also evacuating their nationals.
