Ugandan activist, Dr. Stella Nyanzi, is still stranded in Kenya after the German Embassy in Nairobi declined to issue her a re-entry visa, despite her confirmed refugee status in Germany.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dr. Nyanzi decried continued frustration in her quest to fly back to Germany as a refugee.
The activist revealed that Ugandan police were still visiting her family’s home in search of her two sons.
Upon asking why she was barred from boarding a plane to Germany at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Dr Nyanzi was informed that the German Embassy in Nairobi had the authority to grant her a visa.
“The Foreigners’ Office in Munich claims that the German embassy in Nairobi could have decided to give me my visa immediately,” she said.
She explained that the Embassy verified her refugee status and confirmed that she had the necessary travel documents.
“They also verified again that I am a refugee with all the travel documents needed to return home,” she confirmed.
Stella’s denied re-entry to Germany
“They wondered why I was not allowed onto the Etihad Airways flight on Saturday. However, they still did not give me the re-entry visa. I still had to spend Monday night in Nairobi. I am still unsure what the problem is,” Stella narrates.
Nyanzi described the ordeal’s toll on her well-being and that of her family. She questioned why the immigration officers in Nairobi would bar her from flying back to Germany even in light of her predicaments in Uganda where she said officers were still targeting her family and friends.
“I am still the poor black Ugandan refugee woman at the mercy of an uncaring bureaucratic machine that neglects my three children, wondering why their Mama remains vulnerable and exposed to dictator Museveni’s mechanizations in East Africa.”
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“This poor black Ugandan refugee woman wonders how much more begging the Germans in power expect her to make before they allow her to go home, take a warm bath and change her bra soaked with sweat released by anxiety,” she expressed her frustrations.
About Dr Nyazi
Nyanzi is an activist well-known for her outspoken criticism of the Ugandan government and President Yoweri Museveni.
Also Read: For Stella Nyanzi, Poetry Is a Form of Defiance
In 2017, she was arrested for insulting the president and spent 18 months in prison before relocating to Germany as a refugee.
On Sunday, Dr Nyazi reported that she was barred from flying back to Germany at the JKIA in Nairobi.
In her statement, that an immigration officer claimed she is not officially recognized as a refugee in Germany, despite her presenting a positive decision letter from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which affirms her refugee status in Munich.
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