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kenya Kenya v.2026-05-15

Terrorism, kidnapping and armed attacks near the Somalia border, with fuel shortages and flight disruption adding itinerary risk.

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  • aggiornato 2026-05-15

Several current official advisories for Kenya include avoid-all-travel instructions for border and coastal areas as of 2026-05-15. Separate notices flag terrorism, violent crime, fuel availability, flight disruption, and cholera.

What Is Being Advised

Avoid all travel to the Kenya-Somalia border areas named in official advisories, including Mandera, Garissa, parts of Wajir, and Somalia-border counties. Avoid all travel to Turkana and Marsabit areas within 110 km of the South Sudan and Ethiopia borders. Avoid all travel to named parts of the northern coast, including parts of Lamu, Tana River, and Kilifi covered by current advisories.

Avoid non-essential travel to Eastleigh, Kibera, and Pangani in Nairobi because of high crime. For Nairobi travel that still goes ahead, use daylight arrivals, known transport, and current local advice.

Before moving between cities, check flight status, fuel availability, and local instructions. One official notice from 2026-05-08 concerns fuel shortages; another from 2026-05-07 concerns flight disruption. Add slack around international connections, safari departures, and prepaid onward legs.

Where exactly this applies
  • Somalia border and northeast: Mandera County, Garissa County, Somalia-border counties, parts of Wajir including Tarbaj and Wajir East, and areas within 60 km to 100 km of the Somalia border depending on the advisory.
  • South Sudan and Ethiopia borders: Turkana and Marsabit counties within 110 km of the borders.
  • Coast: Lamu County, coastal areas of Tana River, and coastal Kilifi north of Malindi in the advisories that name them. One Canadian advisory excludes Lamu Island and Manda Island from its avoid-all-travel instruction and places them under high caution instead.
  • Nairobi: Eastleigh, Kibera, and Pangani are named for avoid-non-essential-travel advice in one official advisory. Other notices treat Nairobi as a heightened-caution crime area.
  • Other named places in caution notices include Moyale, Watamu, Garissa, Malindi, Lamu Island, Mandera, Wajir, Mombasa, and broader northern Kenya.
Organizations issuing warnings
  • Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
  • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
  • Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland)
  • Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (United Kingdom)
  • Global Affairs Canada
  • Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (France)
  • Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Union Europea y Cooperacion (Spain)
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (Italy)
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand)

Why The Advice Is Split By Region

The strictest advice is regional. Canada, the UK, Switzerland, France, Japan, and New Zealand all include avoid-all-travel or equivalent instructions somewhere in their Kenya advice. The named risks include Somalia-linked terrorism, kidnapping, armed attacks, cross-border violence, and security threats on parts of the coast.

Several governments also give nationwide heightened-caution advice for Kenya because of terrorism and high crime. For planning, separate the named regional restrictions from broader caution advice for Nairobi, Mombasa, and other routes that are not listed under the strictest travel warnings.

Places Named Most Often

Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu appear repeatedly across the official inputs. Canada names Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu counties bordering Somalia for avoid-all-travel advice, with a carve-out for Lamu Island and Manda Island. The UK names the Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast. Spain warns that terrorist-attack alert is high nationwide, especially along the Somalia border and up to 100 km inland, including Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Lamu.

Turkana and Marsabit are called out separately by Canada for areas within 110 km of the South Sudan and Ethiopia borders. The stated risks are terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry, and cross-border violence.

Nairobi is split by neighborhood in the inputs. Canada singles out Eastleigh, Kibera, and Pangani for avoid-non-essential-travel advice because of high crime. Italy marks Nairobi for above-baseline caution due to crime.

Current Disruption And Health Notes

Italy's current notices add two May 2026 checks: fuel availability and flight disruption. Check carrier updates, airport transfer plans, and fuel-dependent road legs before booking same-day connections.

Italy also marks Kenya for heightened caution due to cholera. The supplied material gives no case counts or affected districts, so the supported claim is narrow: cholera appears in an official health caution, and travelers should follow current local health instructions.

Source Notes

The latest update in the supplied official inputs is Switzerland's 2026-05-13 Kenya advice, checked on 2026-05-14. Canada's Kenya page was updated on 2026-05-07 and checked on 2026-05-14. Italy's fuel and flight disruption notices were updated on 2026-05-08 and 2026-05-07.

Native government labels differ. Japan uses Level 4 evacuation / do-not-travel language for some listed areas and lower levels for others. France uses red, orange, and yellow security zones. New Zealand combines increased caution, avoid non-essential travel, and do-not-travel levels. Use the named geography and the strictest applicable instruction.

Official source notes

Official source notes used for this article. Native government labels are preserved when available.

  • Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (ch) (avoid all travel; native label: regional — Von Reisen in die Counties an der Grenze zu Somalia wird abgeraten; updated 2026-05-13; checked 2026-05-14): FDFA travel advice for Kenya. The FDFA advises against travel to/in Counties an der Grenze zu Somalia. The current FDFA update note was published on 2026-05-13.
  • Global Affairs Canada (ca) (avoid all travel; native label: Avoid all travel; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: Border with South Sudan and Ethiopia - Avoid all travel. Avoid all travel to Turkana and Marsabit counties, within 110 km of the borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia, due to the risk of terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry and cross-border violence.
  • Global Affairs Canada (ca) (avoid all travel; native label: Avoid all travel; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: Border with Somalia - Avoid all travel. Avoid all travel to Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Lamu counties bordering Somalia, due to a risk of terrorist attacks, kidnapping and armed attacks. This advisory excludes Lamu Island and Manda Island where you should exercise a high degree of caution.
  • Global Affairs Canada (ca) (avoid all travel; native label: Avoid all travel; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: Affected areas listed in regional advisory - Avoid all travel. Avoid all travel to the following areas, due to a risk of kidnapping and attacks: within 50 km of the coast of Tana River County within 50 km of the coast of Kilifi County (from north of the city of Malindi to the Tana River County limits)
  • Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (avoid all travel; native label: Zones formellement déconseillées (rouge); Zones déconseillées sauf raison impérative (orange); Zones en vigilance renforcée (jaune); updated 2026-04-15; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya - Conseils aux voyageurs: security zones. France Diplomatie currently places parts of Kenya above ordinary baseline travel advice. Native severity labels are preserved as: Zones formellement déconseillées (rouge); Zones déconseillées sauf raison impérative (orange); Zones en vigilance renforcée (jaune). Named areas/routes/borders include: Terrorisme, Délinquance, Conflits agro-pastoraux, Piraterie, Risque routier.
  • Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (gb) (avoid all travel; native label: FCDO advises against all travel; updated 2026-03-27; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: FCDO advises against all travel. Areas where FCDO advises against travel Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast Due to the risk of terrorism from groups based in Somalia, FCDO advises against all travel to: Mandera County Tarbaj and Wajir East constituencies in Wajir County, except for Wajir Town areas of Wajir County within 60km of Kenya’s border with Somalia Garissa County - except for Garissa Town, the constituency of Lagdera and the ar…
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (jp) (avoid all travel; native label: レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）; updated 2025-05-19; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）. Japan MOFA keeps Kenya in the listed area at レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）; travelers should evacuate and not travel. The update notes cite ongoing security risks and advise travelers to monitor reliable information and take sufficient safety measures.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (jp) (avoid all travel; native label: レベル3：渡航は止めてください。（渡航中止勧告）（継続）; updated 2025-05-19; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: レベル3：渡航は止めてください。（渡航中止勧告）（継続）. Japan MOFA keeps Kenya in the listed area at レベル3：渡航は止めてください。（渡航中止勧告）（継続）; travelers should not travel. The update notes cite ongoing security risks and advise travelers to monitor reliable information and take sufficient safety measures.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (nz) (avoid all travel; native label: Exercise increased caution; Avoid non-essential travel; Do not travel; updated 2024-11-28; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: Exercise increased caution. Exercise increased caution in Kenya due to the threat of terrorism and violent crime (level 2 of 4). Avoid non-essential travel to Lamu county, coastal areas of Tana River and Kilifi counties north of Malindi due to the threat from terrorism and violent crime (level 3 of 4).
  • Global Affairs Canada (ca) (avoid non-essential travel; native label: Avoid non-essential travel; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: Neighbourhoods of Nairobi - Avoid non-essential travel. Avoid non-essential travel to Avoid non-essential travel to the neighbourhoods of Eastleigh, Kibera and Pangani in Nairobi, due to the high crime rate.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (avoid non-essential travel; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Nord del Paese in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to clashes. The official advice is to avoid non-essential travel, postpone travel, or reassess planned trips.
  • Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Union Europea y Cooperacion (es) (avoid non-essential travel; native label: SE RECOMIENDA VIAJAR CON PRECAUCIÓN Y ABSTENERSE DE HACERLO POR DETERMINADAS ZONAS; updated 2025-10-29; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: caution and avoid Somalia border/Lamu areas. Spain recommends traveling with caution and abstaining from travel to certain areas of Kenya. It warns that terrorist-attack alert is high nationwide, especially along the Somalia border and up to 100 km inland, including Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Lamu.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (jp) (avoid non-essential travel; native label: レベル2：不要不急の渡航は止めてください。（継続）; updated 2025-05-19; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: レベル2：不要不急の渡航は止めてください。（継続）. Japan MOFA keeps Kenya in the listed area at レベル2：不要不急の渡航は止めてください。（継続）; travelers should avoid non-essential travel. The update notes cite ongoing security risks and advise travelers to monitor reliable information and take sufficient safety measures.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: ultimaora - KENYA: REPERIBILITA' CARBURANTE; updated 2026-05-08; checked 2026-05-14): KENYA: REPERIBILITA' CARBURANTE. Official Viaggiare Sicuri current update for Kenya: transport or border disruption. It concerns fuel shortages. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: ultimaora - KENYA: SICUREZZA; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): KENYA: SICUREZZA. Official Viaggiare Sicuri current update for Kenya: transport or border disruption. It concerns flight disruption. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Global Affairs Canada (ca) (heightened caution; native label: Exercise a high degree of caution; updated 2026-05-07; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya - Exercise a high degree of caution. Exercise a high degree of caution in Kenya due to the threat of terrorism and a high crime rate.
  • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (au) (heightened caution; native label: Exercise a high degree of caution; updated 2026-03-12; checked 2026-05-14): Smartraveller advisory for Kenya: Exercise a high degree of caution. Australia Smartraveller lists Kenya at "Exercise a high degree of caution" on its current destinations index. The destination entry was updated on 2026-03-12.
  • Department of Foreign Affairs (ie) (heightened caution; native label: High Degree of Caution; updated 2026-03-04; checked 2026-05-14): Ireland DFA: High caution - Kenya. Ireland DFA currently rates Kenya as High Degree of Caution. Avoid non-essential travel within 75km of the Kenya-Somalia border due to the very high risk of terrorist activity and kidnapping in the region.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Città di Moyale in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to border restrictions. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Watamu in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to border risk. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sanitaria - Situazione sanitaria; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Situazione sanitaria. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Kenya in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to cholera. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Area di Garissa in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Malindi in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to border risk. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Isola di Lamu in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Area di Mandera in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Lamu in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Area di Wajir in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Nairobi in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to crime. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Città di Mombasa in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to crime and airport disruption. Travelers are told to avoid the affected area or activity and follow local instructions.
  • Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-11-25; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Contea di Lamu in Kenya for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (jp) (heightened caution; native label: レベル1：十分注意してください。（継続）; updated 2025-05-19; checked 2026-05-14): Kenya: レベル1：十分注意してください。（継続）. Japan MOFA keeps Kenya nationwide at レベル1：十分注意してください。（継続）; travelers should exercise a high degree of caution. The update notes cite ongoing security risks and advise travelers to monitor reliable information and take sufficient safety measures.