Burundi
Thousands of Burundians streaming into Tanzania

afrol News, 19 October - The escalated armed conflict in eastern Burundi is driving more and more civilians to flee to neighbouring Tanzania. The refugees report to have been pressured to leave both by the rebels and by government troops. Most are not able to bring any belongings, which are left to the looting troops.

The majority of the new arrivals are women and children and many of them are weak and tired after the long trek from their villages through rough terrain, according to Ron Redmond, spokesman of the UN refugee agency UNHCR. "The majority arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs," he said at a press briefing yesterday.

The new arrivals in Tanzania say they are being forced to leave Cankuso Province by rebels who are warning of impending conflict in areas of eastern Burundi. The refugees also continue to report reprisals by the Burundian military, who accuse villagers of complicity with the rebels.

More than 5,000 Burundian refugees have arrived in Tanzania's Ngara Province since Monday, and 11,500 since the beginning of October. That equals 65 percent of the total new Burundian arrivals in Tanzania so far this year, which now stand at 17,500, Mr Redmond says.

The Mbuba transit centre close to the border is overflowing with more than 3,700 refugees awaiting transportation to UNHCR camps in Ngara. "Mbuba's normal capacity is only 400, so we are struggling to cope with the rapid rate of arrivals and UNHCR staff are working to expand the temporary accommodation in Mbuba," said the UN agency's spokesman. "The rainy season is, however, making the situation very difficult," he added.

Meanwhile, there are reports that an estimated 1,000 more Burundians are massed at the Kobero/Ngara border, many of them with livestock. This group is reported to be hesitant to cross into Tanzania, as they fear they will have to give up their animals. They are said to prefer to watch the situation from just inside the Burundi border, but are staying close to the frontier in case they have to flee.

The UN agency faces growing concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Great Lakes region at large. While an increasing number of Burundians flee to Tanzania, parallel numbers of Congolese are fleeing the fighting in South Kivu province and are heading into western Burundi.

The number of refugees from Congo Kinshasa (DRC) fleeing this week's conflicts in south Kivu had now risen to just over 9,000, Mr Redmond said. The majority of the asylum seekers are in Burundi's Cibitoke province. Close to 100 had also fled to Rwanda's south-western border town of Cyangugu.

The Congolese town of Uvira, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, fell to Mai-Mai militia (close to the Kinshasa government) on 12 October. The militia have vowed to push northwards to take the town of Bukavu, on the southern shores of Lake Kivu, while the rebel group, Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD-Goma) have pledged to recapture Uvira. 

Sources: Based on UNHCR and afrol archives

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