UNHCR moves refugees to safety

Concerned for their security, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday moved 406 Congolese refugees in Burundi farther away from the border with the "volatile" Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It reported on Thursday that the refugees had left Rugombo, a refugee reception centre located three kilometres from the border, for Cishemeye I transit centre. "In coming days, 3,000 more refugees are to be transferred to the newly built Cishemeye II. Like Rugombo, both Cishemeye centres are in northwestern Cibitoke Province, but they offer better living conditions for the refugees. UNHCR officials would like to move them even farther away from the DRC border," the UN agency said. Conflict in the DRC has increased over the past four years, with government forces fighting rebel groups, some of which are backed by Rwanda and Uganda. The refugee agency said it began transferring refugees away from the border area at the end of January. Some 206 Congolese refugees were moved to the Gasorwe refugee camp in northern Burundi from the Gatumba reception centre, "a make-shift collection of plastic-sheeting shelters that is designed to process refugees when they arrive, not to house them for longer periods". "Because of the volatility of the situation, we want to move as many as possible out of Cibitoke Province to Gasorwe refugee camp," the UNHCR representative in Burundi, Stefano Severe, said. "We are grateful to the government of Burundi for its open-door policy towards refugees, and for its assistance to us," he added.