NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan authorities have launched a fresh work permit verification and registration exercise for all foreigners working in the country to help flush out those who are working here illegally.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, who launched the exercise in Nairobi late Monday, said foreigners have 60 days to submit their original work permit, valid official endorsement on passport, valid alien card, official payment receipt and Kenya Revenue Authority Personal Identification Number (PIN).
"The number of bona fide foreigners with working permits is far much less compared to the number of those working in the country," said Matiang'i, noting that official records show about 34,000 foreigners are currently holding permits to work in Kenya, but thousands others remain unregistered.
He said the immigration department will give infallible electronic identification cards and create fresh digital register of those with valid work permits, adding that the government will keep digital trail for every work permit issued.
An operation to flush out aliens who have not applied for legal status in the country will be launched after the end of the 60-day exercise on work permit verification.
The government is going to tighten the issuance of those permits, Matiang'i said, noting that the process is going to end up with a digital register that can be searched at any point.
The Kenyan government restricts the issuance of work permits to prevent foreigners from taking up jobs that Kenyans can do.
According to Matiang'i, unemployment levels in the country are at an all time high and Kenyans need to be cushioned from those who take jobs that they can do themselves.
He said Kenya spends about 3.6 million U.S. dollars annually to deport foreigners who are in the country illegally, noting that his ministry is keen to cut the unnecessary budget.
"We can improve some of our border posts in the country using the money," he said, noting that it was not fair for a government to spend such a huge amount of money on deportations alone.
Matiang'i also said the government plans to review the law so that foreigners found to be in the country illegally pay for their air ticket back to their countries.
