NAIROBI, Kenya, October 29, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The UK has updated its travel advice for Kenya, removing advice against all but essential travel to:
within 15km of the coast from the Galana (Athi-Galana-Sabaki) River down to Watamu
This change follows a review of the level of risk to British Nationals travelling in this part of Kenya.
Advice against all but essential travel to the coast now runs southwards from the border with Somalia down to the Galana River. Under the updated travel advice, Malindi is not included in the advice against all but essential travel, nor is Malindi airport.
Our travel advice for other parts of the country has not changed. This means the FCO still advise against all but essential travel to:
areas within 60km of the Kenya-Somali border
Garissa County
the Eastleigh area of Nairobi
Lamu County and those areas of Tana River County north of the Tana river itself
Within 15km of the coast from the Tana River down to the Galana (Athi-Galana-Sabaki) River
The vast majority of Kenya falls outside of our advice against all but essential travel. This includes Kenya’s safari destinations in the national parks, reserves and wildlife conservancies; including the Aberdare National Park, Amboseli, Laikipia, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Meru, Mount Kenya, Samburu, Shimba Hills, Tsavo, as well as the beach resorts of Mombasa, Kilifi, Watamu and Diani.
Full travel advice to Kenya and a map can be found on the FCO website.
Notes to Editors
The UK has a responsibility to inform its citizens of the potential threats aimed at both Kenya and the international community. Changes are not, and never have been, driven by political or economic factors.
Decisions on travel advice are taken by UK Ministers, based on an objective assessment of the security position in country. We keep this under constant review, and our advice can change at any time – up or down – depending on our current assessment of the level of risk to British nationals.
Based on our latest assessment, the UK has removed its advice against all but essential travel to within 15km of the coast from the Galana (Athi-Galana-Sabaki) River down to Watamu. Malindi is not included in the advice against all but essential travel, nor is Malindi airport.
The rules governing UK travel advice are the same across the world. They do not change from country to country. Advice for Kenya is formulated in exactly the same way as for any other country.
We have issued advisories against other countries with which we enjoy close relationships: including India, Thailand, Egypt and Tunisia to name a few. We made changes to our Travel Advice pages for France in the wake of the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ shootings in Paris in January 2014, and to the US following violent protests and looting in Baltimore.
There is no universal ban against Kenya, nor has there ever been. UK travel advice is simply that – advice to our citizens. They are free to make their own decisions in light of the information available.
The UK recognises the economic impact which Travel Advisories can have. We would like nothing more than to be able to remove our travel advice for all parts of the country. The way to achieve that is to work together to address the threat of terrorism.
That is why we are working closely with the Kenyan Government and Security agencies to tackle the causes of insecurity. The UK provides an extensive and ongoing programme of counter-terrorism assistance to the Kenyan Government, and is working closely with the Kenyan security agencies to build their capacity investigate, prosecute and detain terrorists in line with international Human Rights standards.
Our two Foreign Ministers recently signed (at UNGA) a new security compact between our two countries, underlining the UK and Kenya’s resolve to tackle the shared threat of terrorism. The compact builds upon and strengthens existing security co-operation across areas such as Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), Border and Aviation Security, and Criminal Justice.
