Kenya is scrambling to fund evacuations from the war-hit regions even though the latest supplementary budget, drafted before the Middle East conflict, shows only modest increases for diaspora support.
- •Lawmakers are now being asked to approve KSh400 million to bring home distressed Kenyans as the geopolitical shock from the new confrontation involving Iran and the protracted Russia–Ukraine War ripples far beyond the battlefield.
- •Officials from the State Department for Diaspora Affairs told Parliament’s defence and foreign relations committee that evacuations are already under way from volatile regions including the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Russia.
- •The department is prioritising vulnerable citizens, especially children, while warning that the state cannot sustain large-scale repatriations for the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans living abroad.
“We are currently evacuating 15 Kenyans from Iran to Turkey, and that has already incurred significant costs. Among them were five children, who are being prioritised under our repatriation guidelines,” said Amb. Hellen Gichuhi.
The latest supplementary estimates for the 2025/26 financial year, prepared before the Middle East conflict escalated in late February, show only limited additional funding for diaspora support. The core programme covering welfare and rights for Kenyans abroad rises by just KSh44 million to KSh290.9 million.
The department’s own programme targets suggest the budget was built for routine consular work rather than a wartime evacuation. Official performance indicators show the government planned to assist about 2,000 Kenyans abroad this financial year and set a 100% repatriation target for reported distress cases.
Rather than promising mass evacuations, the government is increasingly signalling a targeted approach: only the most vulnerable will be brought home, while others are expected to return at their own cost. That reflects both fiscal limits and the scale of the diaspora, with more than half a million Kenyans estimated to live in the Middle East alone.
Surging conflict in the Middle East has pushed up passenger demand for Kenya Airways, with load factors reaching 99% on some routes. The national carrier has already conducted repatriation flights and is planning additional evacuations while adding frequencies to meet the spike.
Demand is strongest on flights to Europe, the United States, and Asia, and the airline expects to retain roughly 40% of these new passengers even after the conflict subsides. Operational measures will also include securing additional fuel supplies, but shortages may be exacerbated by the disruptions to the Middle East supply routes, with about 70% of Africa’s imports passing through the heated Strait of Hormuz.
In response, Kenya Airways has about 50 days’ worth of fuel reserves and is negotiating additional supply with refiners in India, while the African Airlines Association is coordinating support for regional carriers. Other airlines, such as Deutsche Lufthansa, are expanding routes to Africa and Asia as carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways contend with airspace constraints.
As airspace disruptions push long-haul passengers to reroute through African hubs such as Nairobi, the cost of evacuating stranded workers and students is rising just as jet-fuel prices and ticket prices climb. The result is a growing financial burden on a government that had not budgeted for a large-scale emergency evacuation programme this year.
Parliament must now decide whether to expand funding beyond what was included in the supplementary estimates or force the department to operate within a budget designed for routine consular support rather than wartime evacuations.
