Over the past few months, Canada has experienced a high number or people from African countries who are seeking for asylum after arriving on visitor visas.
These people have included Kenyans, some of whom have been televised sleeping in the streets in Toronto because shelters for asylum seekers are full.
At the same time, the number of people from African countries getting deported at the Port of Entry in Canada has also been on the rise.
The ripple impact of these incidents has trickled back to local and transiting airports where Kenyans traveling to Canada on visit visas are being denied boarding by various airlines.
Sources intimate to Bizna Kenya that these boarding denials are being driven by the perception that the majority of first time travelers from Kenya to Canada on visit visas are not genuine.
Apparently, a source told Bizna Kenya, a majority either intend to seek asylum upon arrival or to convert their visitor visas to work permits.
It took me 8 years and four US visa denials to relocate to US
A spot check by Bizna Kenya reveals a high number of travelers who were denied boarding at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“I was denied boarding yesterday at the JKIA. I had all the documents but I was told that Kenyans with visit visas are not being allowed to board. How do I now go about getting back the funds I used to pay for my ticket?” one Kenyan commented.
June Wairimu who spoke with Bizna Kenya said that she was denied boarding a few weeks ago because she was traveling on a visit visa for a conference that had long expired.
“I was denied boarding by a European carrier. They claimed that they are not allowing Kenyans on visit visas because we’ll either get deported or never come back,” she said.
Cases of Kenyans being denied boarding at transit airports such as the Bole International Airport are also on the rise.
“I was traveling to Canada last week. We were about 8 Kenyans. When we arrived for our layover in Ethiopia, we were asked some questions relating to our visa application. Our answers did not correspond with the purpose of visit in our portals and we were denied boarding and returned to Nairobi,” Stephen Ogutu told Bizna Kenya.