Wamuzi News Ke
In a dramatic twist that’s sent shockwaves across Kenya and beyond, the British High Commission in Nairobi has come out swinging against swirling rumors of a diplomatic disaster fiercely denying that the United Kingdom is axing a migration pact with Kenya.
Amid fears that sweeping UK immigration changes could slam the door shut on thousands of hopeful Kenyan workers, especially in the healthcare sector, the Commission has made it clear: There is no such agreement to cancel in the first place!
“The UK’s new immigration reforms are not singling out Kenya or any country for that matter,” the Commission thundered in a fiery statement. “There’s no deal to terminate. Full stop.”
This revelation drops like a bomb just after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer dropped a controversial immigration white paper a document brimming with proposed reforms meant to dismantle what he dubbed “Britain’s open borders experiment.”
One of the most jaw-dropping proposals? The total scrapping of the care worker visa a visa that has been a lifeline for thousands of foreign professionals from Kenya, Nigeria, India, and the Philippines. These workers were drafted into the UK’s fragile health system to plug staffing holes in hospitals and nursing homes. Now? They could be on the chopping block.
But wait not so fast. The British High Commission insists nothing’s set in stone…yet.
“These reforms are still under review,” the statement clarified. “If implemented, expect stricter rules for both students and work visa applicants. Higher skill levels will be mandatory. More details are coming soon.”
Flashback: In 2022, the UK launched the care worker visa to fix the chronic shortage of caregivers. Since then, Kenyan professionals have flown in droves to fill vacancies thanks in part to a 2021 bilateral labor deal that allowed Kenyan health workers to seek employment in Britain.
Under this pact, 20,000 Kenyan nurses were slated to be sent to UK hospitals. So far, two cohorts 19 in 2022 and 76 in 2023 have already made the journey. They were handpicked from thousands of applicants.
To support this, Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) rolled out English language classes, now involving nearly a third of its 12,000 nursing students. The aim? Equip Kenyan nurses to meet international standards.
Ex-Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, the brain behind the Kenya-UK deal, had declared back then: “Only unemployed nurses will be eligible for this program.”
Eligibility criteria included being a Kenyan citizen, having a diploma or degree in nursing, clearing background checks, and passing global-standard exams like IELTS, OET, and CBT.
But now, under the UK’s shocking new proposals, new care worker visa applicants may be completely shut out by 2028 even as current holders get a temporary lifeline through renewals. The UK says it wants to train and pay locals better instead of relying on foreign labor.
Adding to the sting: a brutal 32% hike in the immigration skills charge for UK employers, a slash in post-study work years (from 2 years to 18 months), a mandatory English test for adult dependents, and a stunning increase in the wait for naturalization from 5 to 10 years!
As if that wasn’t enough, the UK is also planning to tighten laws around deportations by cracking down on the use of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights often used to fight removal from the country.
With the full proposal set to hit Parliament in the coming weeks, thousands of Kenyan job seekers are now trapped in limbo their futures in the UK hanging in the balance.
Stay tuned as we follow this fast-developing story. What do these reforms really mean for Kenyan professionals? Are the UK’s doors quietly closing on us? The countdown has begun.
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