Tanzania: Burundi refugees flood into Kagunga and Kigoma
With an estimated 50,000 people in Kagunga, the main priority is to ease the congestion by transferring the refugees to Nyarugusu refugee camp in Kigoma where assistance can be more readily provided. The refugees are crowded at the shores waiting for their turn to be transported to Kigoma, a journey of three hours.
Following the pre-election tension in Burundi, Burundian nationals began fleeing to Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To date, the UNHCR has put the number of refugees who have sought asylum in neighbouring countries at over 112,000, of which those fleeing to Tanzania number over 70,000.
In Tanzania the humanitarian situation in Kagunga and Kigoma is dire, with some 50,000 refugees awaiting transportation to Nyarugusu refugee camp. The ICRC is working closely with the Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) on the humanitarian situation in Kagunga and at Nyarugusu refugee camp. Services such as restoring contact with separated family members (restoring family links) are already being provided at Nyarugusu for the new arrivals, while the TRCS is providing first aid in Kagunga and at the transit point at Lake Tanganyika stadium. Red Cross volunteers are also focusing on hygiene with the aim of containing the cholera outbreak.
