On September 13th, Kenyan president William Ruto and German chancellor Olaf Scholz signed a deal in Berlin overviewing migration’s details and implications for both nations. The contract discussed not only the possibility of employment for Kenyan migrants, which according to the spokesperson for Kenya’s presidential office would be given over 200,000 employment opportunities, but also a potential two year temporary residence permit for Kenyan students and/or those who have secured an approved job with chances of extensions of a “reasonable period” in Germany, additionally, the simplification of the repatriation process of Kenyans who practised illegal migration. This deportation clause would allow for a more ordered, safe and productive migration of Kenyans which enables the guidelines created to protect the rights and welfare of those migrant workers, to be more easily reinforced (preventing and combating labour exploitation, forced labour and human trafficking). In general, the agreement was created as a solution for both countries: opportunities for semi-skilled and skilled Kenyan workers in a country with the third-largest economy in the world, and for Germany, the key to the crisis of a shortage in skilled labour.
Historically, German has proven to embrace migrants, welcoming them with open-arms: over one million refugee fled to the country during the migration crisis of 2015-1016 (growing number of Syrians, Iraqis, Libyans, Afghans and Eritreans fleeing war, ethnic conflict or economic hardship), not to mention, recently during the Russo-Ukrainian war it was home to over 1.1 million ukrainian refugees. However, this may have back-fired given recent occurrences, which pressured Scholz’s government to tighten border controls and review security measures. Mainly, there were two events which triggered the crackdown on illegal migration: Firstly, on the 31st of May of this year, a knife attack in southwestern city of Mannheim, in the market square, caused by a 25 year-old Afghan refugee which resulted in a policeman severely wounded and many (unknown amount) of citizens injured with stabs. Later, an attack on August 23rd at the western city of Solingen, at a festival, by a 26 year old Syrian man who had been due to deportation stabbed 3 people to death. This Solingen incident stood out by sparkling fresh debate in Germany over migration with the country’s governing coalition receiving criticism for its handling of the issue.
Altogether, although generating concerns on the brain-drain in Kenya with professionals like doctors and nurses going abroad for jobs, leaving local hospitals with a shortage of medical workers as stated by Kenyan lawyer and politician Ekuru Aukot, the accord is already being tested: five Kenyan bus drivers have been welcomed to Flensburg (located in the north of Germany) by September 19th and the latest security measures aimed at speeding up the deportation of undocumented immigrants began at that same week (week of September 16th). Roseline Njogu, a senior officer affairs official counter- argues Aukot asserting that Kenya is simply responding to global labour market demands: “We have a youth bulge in Kenya and every year we have a million people joining the local labour market. It takes time and resources to create job opportunities at home” she added. It also seems to result in positive implications due to its global support: the International Labour Organisation has stated that the deal is “expected to significantly increase access to decent foreign jobs for Kenyan workers in Germany”.
