Rwanda on Wednesday started to transfer Burundian refugees from transit centres near the border to Mahama refugee camp in Kirehe district, eastern Rwanda.
About 10,000 Burundian refugees have fled to Rwanda since March amid security fears in the wake of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in their country.
The transfer started with a group of 417 refugees from Muyira refugee transit centre in Nyanza district, southern Rwanda.
Rwanda’s Ministry of Refugees Affairs and Disaster Management said 600 refugees had been expected to be moved.
Jean Claude Rwahama, the director of refugee affairs at Rwanda’ s ministry of disaster preparedness and refugees affairs told journalists that the Mahama camp has capacity to accommodate about 20,000 refugees.
Basic needs, including food, water, medical services have been put in place at the camp, he said.
The transfer was necessitated by the need to decongest the transit centers and relocate the refugees from close to Burundi, according to officials.
One refugee who gave her name only as Mukankusi, said with her five children, accommodation had become a challenge in the transit center.
The UN Security Council has called on all parties in Burundi to “refrain from any acts of violence and intimidation before, during, and after elections” in the country.
Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD is scheduled to hold a party congress this weekend to decide whether President Pierre Nkurunziza will seek a third five-year term, media reports said Wednesday.
The opposition and diplomats fear the move could trigger fresh unrest in the African nation.
Street protests against a possible third term for Nkurunziza were reported Friday in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura with protesters throwing stones as police fired tear gas. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
