World urged to help

The NGO, Refugees International, has called on the international community to come to the aid of Burundian refugees before it is too late. In a statement on Monday, it said hundreds of thousands of Burundian refugees in Tanzania were facing malnutrition and disease in the camps. “Their condition could worsen if, as feared, there is a break in the food pipeline this summer,” the statement said. “By acting now, the international community can reverse a growing problem.” RI pointed out that food was a major problem and stressed that the refugees needed access to more land to increase their food security and self-sufficiency.

“The government of Tanzania is reluctant to give them more land, fearing that it will make them want to stay in Tanzania,” the statement said. However, it added that in repeated interviews with RI, the refugees stated they wanted to go home. “The refugees and internally displaced people in the Great Lakes region are at the end of a very precarious logistics and transportation system for food that extends more than 1,000 km from the ports of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Mombasa in Kenya to western Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda,” RI said.

It noted that due to heavy use and limited maintenance, the overall system was in disrepair. “Even a small glitch can severely hamper food and non-food supplies and in turn, can have a very adverse effect on the health status of the war-affected throughout the Great Lakes region.”