Mother Fights to Bring Baby Home from Saudi Arabia after Forced Deportation to Kenya
A Kenyan mother is urgently seeking help to reunite with her three-year-old daughter, who remains in Saudi Arabia after the mother was forcibly deported.
Penina Wanjiru, 31, from Bahati in Nakuru County, travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 for work. In 2022 she gave birth to her daughter, Precious, after hiding her pregnancy for fear of arrest. Unable to access medical care, she delivered the baby at home despite having been advised that a caesarean section was necessary.
Wanjiru raised Precious quietly for three years, relying on a daycare centre to keep the child out of sight. The arrangement collapsed when police raided her residence. Precious was taken into custody, and Wanjiru was expelled from the country without the chance to gather her belongings or secure her daughter’s release.
“I wasn’t given time to pack. I told them I had a child, and they promised she would be brought to me, but that never happened,” she said. “I refused to leave without her, but I was forced, beaten and pushed out.”
Since returning to Kenya, Wanjiru has been told that her daughter cannot be repatriated without DNA testing, a requirement for children born abroad out of wedlock. Nine months later, the process has still not begun, leaving Precious in an uncertain situation and at risk of being placed in an orphanage.
Wanjiru says she has contacted her Member of Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora Affairs office, but no progress has been made. “The last time I spoke to my daughter was in April. I’m stressed, I’m sick, and I’ve lost so much weight. I just need help to bring my child home,” she said.
Her experience reflects the wider challenges faced by Kenyan women who return from Gulf countries after giving birth in difficult circumstances. DNA verification rules have left many of their children without documentation, preventing them from obtaining travel papers or legal recognition.
