Kenya now has concerns about an outbreak of the coronavirus, despite having stuck to lockdown rules. That’s because Kenya left its borders open. “Somalia has kept its mosques open during Ramadan despite the coronavirus pandemic, attracting a flood of faithful Kenyans from across the countries.’”
This points to the reality of the risk to any country that has imposed tight restrictions on its own citizens, yet failed to manage its borders. Take Canada, for example. It was allowing in airport arrivals from China and also Pakistan in April with no special screening. Citizen or not, when it comes to borders, proper screening is needed.
In Canada, even illegal migrants continued to flow into the country at the notorious Roxham road in Quebec. Tens of thousands of unvetted migrants have entered at that point, including a significant number from Africa and the Middle East.
So while law-abiding citizens restrict themselves, others are putting the wider population at risk.
“Kenyan Muslims Flood Somalia, Where Mosques Remain Open,” by Gabrielle Reyes, Breitbart, May 6, 2020:
Somalia has kept its mosques open during Ramadan despite the coronavirus pandemic, attracting a flood of faithful Kenyans from across the countries’ shared border, Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation reported on Monday.
Kenya has closed its mosques as part of lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the Chinese coronavirus. Muslims are currently observing Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islamic calendar, during which they normally visit mosques to pray communally.
Devout Kenyans from the northeastern border city of Mandera have been sneaking into Somalia to perform taraweeh, or nightly prayers, at open mosques there, according to the newspaper. This has prompted Kenyan government officials to remain alert to similar border crossings in other areas, fearing a rise in imported coronavirus cases.
In the border county of Wajir, health authorities confirmed that at least two coronavirus cases were imported from Somalia due to this type of border crossing, according to the Daily Nation. Kenya shares a long border with Somalia, making it difficult to track movement between the nations.
In Mandera, Governor Ali Roba ordered a total lockdown of the county, banning the entry and exit of people and vehicles. Mandera County Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha said that anyone found sneaking out of Kenya to Somalia to pray would be placed under forced quarantine at their own expense and later prosecuted, the Daily Nation reports.
“We have information that several residents of Mandera have been crossing into Somalia to perform prayers in mosques there. We have activated our security operation, and anybody found [crossing the border] will be arrested and prosecuted after completing a 14-day quarantine,” Kyatha said.
Kyatha urged local Islamic religious leaders like imams and sheiks to enforce government directives prohibiting movement across borders during the coronavirus lockdown, which Kenya implemented last month….