Burundi
Burundian crisis creates new wave of refugees

afrol News, 1 October - As Rwandan and Congolese refugees are returning home, another refugee crisis is deepening at Africa's Great Lakes. The increased instability and violence in war-torn Burundi has caused a new wave of refugees leaving the country for Tanzania.

- Nearly 900 Burundian refugees have fled to Tanzania since last Friday in a rapidly growing outflow from the war-torn country, Kris Janowski, spokesman of the UN refugee agency UNHCR said at a Geneva press conference today. More refugees were said to be "on the way." 

The recent arrivals bring the total number of Burundian refugees who have fled to Tanzania during September alone to more than 3,000 – a nearly tenfold increase from August, when only 350 new Burundian refugees were registered in Tanzania. This year's total so far now stands at 5,200, Mr Janowski said.

Many of the new refugees had stated they were leaving Burundi after a period of internal displacement inside the country. Others said they had previously been in camps in Tanzania and had returned home last year or early this year but then decided to flee again. Many of the new arrivals were in poor health condition, with malnutrition noticeable among the children.

Refugees continued to report an escalation of conflict between Burundian military and rebel groups inside the country. Some said their homes had been burnt by soldiers who accused them of complicity with the rebels. 

Mr Janowski said that some of those refugees interviewed at the weekend said that before fleeing they had seen military helicopters flying around the commune of Kinyinya in Ruyigi province.

Refugees from Gitega Province, central Burundi, say they fled after a massacre in Kirambi village of Itaba commune in Gitega on 10 September. Some say they participated in the burial of some 100 bodies before leaving for neighbouring Tanzania.

Meanwhile, the number of refugees returning home from camps in Tanzania has dropped dramatically. Last week, 365 refugees were assisted by UNHCR to return to their homes, mainly in northern Burundi. In recent weeks, an average of 600 refugees had returned home each week, compared with up to 1,500 per week a few months ago. Since the beginning of the year, more than 45,000 Burundian refugees have returned home – 25,000 of them with UNHCR assistance. 

Tanzania is hosting some 350,000 Burundian refugees in camps. Nearly half a million others are living on their own outside refugee camps in Tanzania. 

Sources: Based on UNHCR and afrol archives

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