Burundi

The amount of money needed for UN humanitarian appeals involving extreme weather events like floods or drought is now eight times higher than 20 years ago — and donors are failing to keep up, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. For every $2 needed for UN weather-related appeals, donor countries are only providing $1.

People seeking safety are trapped at borders across Eastern Africa due to COVID-19 measures.

 

 

For Calinie and Theophile, like many small-hold farmers in rural Burundi, crop failures were once a fact of life due to limited agricultural knowledge, the extreme paucity of arable land and high levels of soil erosion. Thanks to an innovative farming approach supported by Oxfam, they increased in yields and incomes to ensure a better quality of life for their children, now aged six to 22 years.

Tanzania is currently hosting over 110,000 Burundians within two camps, Nyarugusu and Nduta, which was recently opened to relieve overcrowding. More refugees continue to arrive in their hundreds every day and aid agencies face difficult decisions about where to use their limited resources.

Health and shelter for Burundian refugees in Tanzania are poised to get worse in already overstretched camps, the aid agencies Oxfam, HelpAge International, Plan International, Save the Children, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) warned today, if there is an increased influx of refugees across the border.

Oxfam is concerned that local and legislative elections in Burundi have been held in a climate of tension and fear, evident in the city but also in some provinces outside. The elections have been marred by the absence of opposition parties and the independent media.

Tens of thousands of Burundian refugees have been pouring into Tanzania. For many it can take up to three weeks to reach Nyarugusu camp, already filled to overflowing.

Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities have led to cholera among the estimated 40,000 Burundian refugees including in the Tanzanian border town of Kagunga.

The number of refugees arriving in Tanzania has risen exponentially over the past week as people pour over Burundi’s borders, with new arrivals citing fear of violence and intimidation as primary reasons for leaving.