UN refugee agency responds to influx of Congolese refugees

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is reinforcing its operations in Burundi and working with local authorities to establish new camps for some 31,000 Congolese refugees who arrived in the country over the last two weeks, UNHCR said on Tuesday. The majority of new arrivals have been from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They began arriving on 9 June following increased fighting between dissident soldiers, led by Col. Jules Mutebutsi and Gen Laurent Nkunda, and loyal Congolese government forces, UNHCR reported. "No major new refugee arrivals from the DRC have been reported since last week, but the reported presence of increasing numbers of troops along the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi borders is undoubtedly affecting movements," Jennifer Pagonis, a UNHCR spokeswoman, said on Tuesday at a news briefing in Geneva. There have been small repatriations since the fighting began on 26 May. Fighting has now ended, with the retreat of dissident troops to neighbouring Rwanda. UNHCR reported on Sunday that it had facilitated the return of 137 refugees to DRC. However, to cope with the influx into Burundi, the UNHCR has sent a senior emergency officer to the country. The UNHCR spokesman in Burundi, Bernard Ntwari, said eight emergency officers would be sent to Burundi this week. UNHCR said the Burundian government had agreed to provide land for new camps in the province of Cankuzo, some 200 km east of the Congolese border. Ntwari said on Saturday that Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Ministry of Health, and other NGO partners had begun a joint measles vaccination effort for recently arrived refugee children in Burundi. Two camp residents died of cholera last week, although Ntwari said there was no way to determine if they had contracted the disease before or after they entered the camp. Nevertheless, UNHCR has taken measures to prevent a possible outbreak. "These measure include providing efficient sanitation, as well as education programmes to sensitise refugees to the dangers of cholera," he added.