OPINION: Why foreign embassies should review visa policies
As a teenager, my dream to study abroad was shattered when I
was denied a visa to travel to Canada after landing a scholarship.
As the great Nelson Mandela said, “education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, but I missed mine and my
only undoing was that I was coming from a poor family with no name recognition
and they felt that I would go to Canada and not come back.
At the embassy, they threw my papers back at me without
dignity and I cried. The experience from the security guards to everyone who
served me was horrible.
The visa process is a colonial system put to maintain the
status quo that the poor will always remain poor and the rich will always
remain rich because of their bank accounts. The rich will always travel and
take their children to the schools they want abroad.
I did not give up. I remembered the words of Marcus Garvey
that “if you don’t have confidence in yourself, you are twice defeated in the
race of life and that with confidence, you have won even before you have
started”.
I got another opportunity to study in the Netherlands, and
this time I became smarter, I borrowed someone’s bank account to apply for a
visa in an effort to show that I could afford to live in the country but I was
denied again. I met people who told me being poor is worse than committing a
crime.
Again, I got another scholarship opportunity this time in
the United States of America. The visa application process was not smooth as
well. Imagine as a student, you have to wait for months or even a year to be
granted an interview. In the end, you could lose the opportunity and remain
hopeless in Kenya.
Finally, I went to the US and after studying, I came back to
Kenya and to continue building my organisation, Shining Hope for Communities,
that is now recognised world over, including in the US. I would later apply for
the renewal of my visa which also took a long time to be renewed.
So many dreams are being shattered. These countries have a
right to deny us their visa but we are asking for dignity where people have time
to listen and avoid this colonial mentality.
There is a ray of hope and we have seen what is happening at
the US Embassy in Kenya. The new US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman took less
than two months to institute a raft of changes, aimed at expediting the visa
application process.
Part of the changes saw individuals applying for visas being
able to see interview wait times until their next appointment after the embassy
updated its website to reflect the same.
Further, the site also clearly shows the type of fees that
are non-refundable to allow Kenyans to make informed decisions before
submitting their application and paying the associated fees.
In yet another change, the embassy introduced expedited
appointments for emergency situations, including the death of an immediate
family member, the need to travel for urgent medical care, and for students
whose programmes start in less than 30 days and who will suffer irreparable
harm, such as the loss of a scholarship, if they cannot travel.
It took a strong woman like Whitman to change the colonial
system that has been there for many years and the United Kingdom Embassy has also
taken cue by bringing an end to the long wait for their visa.
Kenyans are not begging, but they are asking for dignity. A
person from a slum in Kenya is not asking for any favour, but dignity. A girl
from a remote village in Rift valley is not asking for any special treatment,
but dignity.
It is encouraging to see that the current regime has noted
this and I want to congratulate President William Ruto for quickly striking a
deal with the South African government, allowing Kenyans to travel to the
country visa-free.
This is how you build strong diplomatic relations where
there is no anger involved. With the youth getting easy access to such
opportunities, it keeps them away from joining criminal and terrorist groups
like Al Shabaab.
We can silence the guns when we open our boarders for people
to get opportunities in different countries. We must treat people with dignity
and love.
Dr.
Kennedy Odede, is the founder and CEO of Shofco, a member of USAid Advisory
Board, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, multiple humanitarian award
winner, including 2022 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year,
best-selling author. kennedy@shofco.org.
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