Nairobi — The Government of Kenya is engaging in bilateral interventions with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to address growing concerns over undocumented Kenyan children born to migrant mothers.
Speaking during the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs’ Third Quarterly Briefing on Kenya’s Foreign Policy in Nairobi, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi noted that the problem is widespread due to the large number of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia, which ranks as the third-largest global labour market for foreign workers and employs over 200,000 Kenyans.
“In Saudi Arabia, given the huge population of Kenyans working in the country, the problem of mothers with undocumented children is prevalent,” Mudavadi said.
“The government is pursuing bilateral interventions, and this has been a subject of several parliamentary questions from members whose constituents have been affected in one way or another.”
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Mudavadi revealed that the government, through its mobile consular services drive, has conducted DNA tests and collected 707 DNA samples to verify parentage.
Upon confirmation of mother-child matches, birth certificates have been processed to facilitate the safe repatriation of affected families.
Working group
He added that Kenya’s lobbying efforts led to the establishment in January 2025 of a joint interdepartmental working group, including representatives from the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh and Saudi ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour, Interior, and the Saudi General Directorate of Passports. The group has facilitated the issuance of emergency travel documents for mothers and children without legal status.
“Since inception, these deliberate efforts have resulted in the safe repatriation of 59 mothers and 73 children back to Kenya,” Mudavadi said, emphasizing the government’s commitment to protecting vulnerable citizens abroad.
State Department for Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu highlighted Saudi Arabia’s importance as a major partner in Kenya’s labour migration landscape and a key source of remittances.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an extremely important destination for our diaspora workforce. We have well over 200,000 Kenyans living and working there, and those numbers rise every single day. It is also the second-largest remitter of diaspora funds to Kenya after the United States,” Njogu said.
She further noted that while Kenya provides every citizen the opportunity to register their children’s births, undocumented cases often arise due to mothers’ irregular immigration status.
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“Kenya provides every citizen the opportunity to register the birth of their children, but it is the obligation of every parent to ensure registration is done. We have worked to mitigate the situation of undocumented children, including DNA sampling, negotiating temporary waivers for mothers out of status, and facilitating repatriation,” Njogu said.
She urged Kenyans abroad to report any challenges they face at missions, emphasizing that the Ministry takes service delivery concerns seriously and acts swiftly to resolve them.
