Lugufu refugee situation "potentially explosive"

Lugufu camp, 90 km east of the Lake Tanganyika port of Kigoma, has been grossly overstretched for weeks by the flow of refugees from eastern DRC and, with mortality rising and health suffering, camp managers are in danger of being overwhelmed, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said. "We face a potentially explosive situation but we cannot turn people away if there is no other option", an
IFRC statement received by IRIN said. Lugufu, run by the Tanzanian Red Cross, was designed for a maximum 40,000 people but was now catering for 55,000 and expecting another 7,000 by the end of this week - putting health services, water supplies and staff under great pressure, it added.

Camp managers needed two or three more refugee villages as well as health posts and staff, medical supplies and water points, the IFRC stated. "We warned this could happen but the world's eyes were on the Balkans and nobody listened to us. They'd better start listening now if they want to avert a tragedy", said Jane Buchan, Acting Head of Delegation for the IFRC in Tanzania.