Thousands of displaced need urgent aid, officials say

A total of 21,860 war-displaced people in Mpanda Commune in Burundi's northwestern Bubanza Province urgently need humanitarian aid as they have been without adequate food and shelter for two weeks, Fidele Niyonkuru, the commune's administrator, told IRIN on Monday. "Some spend the night outside, others are dispersed in villages," he said. "Their humanitarian situation is precarious as they are vulnerable to many diseases." He said the displacement was caused by fighting between the army and rebel groups. Niyonkuru said that humanitarian organisations were yet to respond to a request for aid by local authority officials. However, he said that CARE International had sent a team to ascertain the needs of the displaced, but no aid had been given yet. He said another NGO, Cord Aid, had set up mobile clinics where its staff were attending to the displaced twice a week. "We wish they would attend to the people four times a week, given their vulnerability," he added. An official at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Nathalia Kabirori, who is in charge of humanitarian affairs in the western provinces of Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza and Cibitoke, told IRIN that the UN agency was awaiting improvement in security before organising aid distribution in Mpanda. "The administration has first to establish the exact number of displaced people," she said. "Once they [the lists] are ready, we will organise operations of aid distribution together with our partners." Army Spokesman Augustin Nzabampema told IRIN on Monday that additional fighting occurred on Saturday and Sunday between the army and Forces nationales de liberation rebels in the areas of Masha, Nyomvyi and Kirengere in Mpanda. "The situation is calm this Monday, this can explain the hesitation of humanitarian agencies to give relief to the war displaced," Col Nzabampema said. "But it's not the whole commune which is destabilised, I think humanitarian NGOs can organise aid distribution in safe areas, and it's up to administrative authorities to assemble the displaced populations in these secured areas," he added.