Kenya has strongly protested Israel’s decision to restrict travel from the East African nation over Ebola fears, with the government insisting the move is completely uncalled for given that not a single case of the disease has been reported in the country.
The trouble started last week when Israel announced a "temporary" entry ban on travellers from five African countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Kenya. The directive, issued by Ben Gurion International Airport’s Head of Border Control on June 10, ordered airlines to deny boarding to foreign nationals from these countries on all flights to Israel. The restrictions also applied to any traveller, regardless of their citizenship, who had visited any of the affected countries within 21 days of their scheduled flight.
But Kenya was not about to take that lying down.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei came out guns blazing, describing the decision as "unfortunate" and insisting that Kenya had no business being on that list. In a strongly worded statement, he pointed out that Kenya has been at the forefront of regional surveillance and response efforts against Ebola, conducting over 80,000 tests without recording a single confirmed case.
"Kenya strongly protests the decision by Israel to include the country amongst those whose travellers it will restrict. This is especially unfortunate given Kenya's support to regional surveillance and response to Ebola. With over 80,000 tests, no case of Ebola has been reported in Kenya," Sing'Oei said.
The protest clearly hit home. Hours after Nairobi's diplomatic pushback, Israel backed down and removed Kenya – alongside Rwanda – from the restricted list. Uganda, South Sudan, and the DRC remained on the ban, as the outbreak continues to ravage parts of the region.
The Israeli Embassy in Nairobi confirmed the reversal, announcing that the country's Ministry of Health had decided to lift the restrictions on both nations.
Sing'Oei welcomed the about-turn with grace, saying the episode showed that dialogue and mutual trust can overcome fear. "Israel’s decision to lift this restriction shows that science, dialogue and mutual trust work; that facts can beat fear; that partnership beats barriers. This is how friends must act," he said. He also expressed gratitude for Israel's swift reconsideration of the matter.
The Ebola outbreak, which was officially declared on May 15 in the DRC's Ituri province, has so far claimed over 180 lives in the region. Uganda has also reported cases. But Kenya has maintained it is well-prepared to contain any potential outbreak, with authorities screening thousands of travellers at airports and border crossings daily.
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