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Burundian refugees benefit from UNHCR Internet project

[Tanzania] Burundi refugees waiting in the rain to say goodbye to families and friends who are repatriating,
Lukole a camp IRIN
Les réfugiés burundais en Tanzanie ont maintenant accès à internet
Despite having no electricity, coupled with an unreliable telephone system, Burundian refugees living in camps in northwestern Tanzania can now access the Internet, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refuges (UNHCR) reported on Wednesday.

A feature by the UN agency said the Global Catalyst Foundation, an organisation based in California's Silicon Valley, was using solar power and a biogas system that uses cow manure to generate up to 70 percent of the electricity needed to power the computers in three UNHCR-run centres. The UNHCR said the refugees were linked to the Internet through i-Way, a low-cost direct satellite Internet access service for Africa.

According to the UNHCR, the Global Catalyst Foundation runs the Internet learning centres in Kasulu, a town in the far northwestern corner of Tanzania near the border with Burundi. The centres are located at the Mtabila refugee camp, the Kasulu Folk Development College and the Kasulu Teacher Training College.

"Although only a small percentage of the 130,000 refugees in the Kasulu District will be making full use of the Internet, UNHCR officials believe it can make a huge difference to the lives of those who do," the agency said.

The full UNHCR feature


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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