Stella Nyanzi Stranded in Nairobi After German Official Blocks Her Re-entry Despite Refugee Status
"Constantine has declared that I am NOT a refugee in Germany,” Nyanzi wrote in a social media post. “Despite showing him the positive decision of BAMF which firmly states that I am a refugee with an address in Munich, he has declared that I have not yet received a decision on my asylum application. He claims that nothing I say will convince him otherwise.”
Uganda Today Edition: Stella Nyanzi Stranded in Nairobi After German Official Blocks Her Re-entry Despite Refugee Status
Nairobi / Munich – Dr. Stella Nyanzi, the outspoken Ugandan academic, writer, and activist currently living as a refugee in Germany, has found herself embroiled in yet another bureaucratic standoff—this time at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi—after being denied re-entry into Germany by a German immigration official.
According to Nyanzi, a German officer identified only as Constantine, based at the German International Liaison Office (ILO) in Nairobi, blocked her from boarding an Etihad Airways flight back to Munich on Friday evening. This, despite her presentation of valid documentation affirming her refugee status in Germany under the jurisdiction of the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF), Germany’s federal office for migration and refugees.
“Constantine has declared that I am NOT a refugee in Germany,” Nyanzi wrote in a social media post. “Despite showing him the positive decision of BAMF which firmly states that I am a refugee with an address in Munich, he has declared that I have not yet received a decision on my asylum application. He claims that nothing I say will convince him otherwise.”
Advertising
This incident leaves Nyanzi stranded in Nairobi, away from her three children in Munich, and highlights the precarious nature of refugee documentation enforcement even within the European Union’s migration framework. Her unexpected detention by bureaucracy underscores what she described as the “dehumanization of being a refugee dependent on other humans to decide whether I can go to my home or not.”
Past Controversy with PEN International
This is not the first time Stella Nyanzi has courted controversy while in exile. Her current predicament comes on the heels of a public fallout with PEN International’s Vice President concerning the refugee status of fellow Ugandan writer and PEN Pinter Prize laureate, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija.
Eralier this year, when Nyanzi publicly posted internal PEN International documents related to Kakwenza’s asylum process on her Facebook page—documents which were authored or endorsed by the PEN Vice President. The post, which appeared to challenge the credibility or favor shown to Rukirabashaija, sparked immediate backlash within the literary and refugee advocacy community.
Despite being asked by the PEN Vice President to remove the documents, Nyanzi reportedly refused, citing her right to freedom of expression. When the content was removed without her consent, Nyanzi republished the documents, this time accompanied by a fiery tirade against what she described as censorship and betrayal.
The incident strained relations between Nyanzi and key members of PEN International, an organization that had previously supported her own fight against repression in Uganda.
A Pattern of Antagonism or a Quest for Truth?
Nyanzi’s critics argue that her confrontational style often undermines her legitimate causes. Supporters, on the other hand, defend her as a fiercely independent voice unafraid to challenge both Ugandan authoritarianism and Western hypocrisy.
Her current travel dilemma appears to be a painful continuation of her struggle to navigate both systems—as an exiled dissident challenging her country’s regime, and as a refugee subjected to the harsh unpredictabilities of international asylum bureaucracy.
With the weekend looming and German consular services closed, Nyanzi says she will have to spend the next two days in limbo, as she seeks urgent clarification and a way forward from the German embassy in Nairobi.
“My children are waiting for me in Munich. My taxi is gone. I already checked out of my BnB. I have Saturday and Sunday to burn in Nairobi,” she lamented.
Editorial Note
Stella Nyanzi remains a polarizing but vital voice in Ugandan and international human rights discourse. Her situation raises serious concerns about the handling of refugee cases by international authorities and the continuing challenges faced by political exiles from authoritarian regimes. Nyanzi ought to live by the English adage that says “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Published by www.ugandatoday.co.ug, your trusted source for news and analysis
Website: https://www.ugandatoday.co.ug/about-cmk
Website: https://www.ugandatoday.co.ug
WhatsApp: +256 702 239 337
X (formerly Twitter): @uganda43443 | @ugtodaynews
Email: ugandatodayedition@gmail.com
Let’s help you grow your brand and keep your audience informed. Partner with Uganda Today—where your story matters in shaping the social and economic dynamics of the country.
