Burundian refugees in Rwanda hit by water shortage

Various camps hosting Burundian refugees in southern and eastern Rwanda are fast running out of water and the 25,884 inhabitants were no longer able to get enough water, a senior official from the Rwandan ministry of refugees and disaster Management warned.

The Rwandan government said most of Burundian refugees remain dispatched in different camps across the country, with the highest concentrations in Mahama, Bugesera, Rusizi, Nyanza and Nyamiyaga.

The official in charge of refugee camps welfare Jean Damascene Musoni told Xinhua on Wednesday that the current standard of 15 litres per refugee per day was not being met.

He said that the available quantity of water supply has gone down over recent weeks following the increasing number of population in the new sites in addition to the new waves of civilians fleeing Burundi to Rwanda over recent weeks.

Musoni said water scarcity was a general problem in eastern Rwanda especially in Mahama refugees camps located in the in southern Rwanda whereby all Burundian refugees are currently being relocated through different phases.

"We are looking into the possibility of finding more water in the newly established site, we have started trucking water into the camps though there are still limited capacity to respond to the demand with influx of several thousand more refugees," Musoni said.

Rwandan officials said the operation to relocate all Burundian refugees in southern Rwanda was currently being conducted through phases whereby they would be transferred to the newly established camp of Mahama, in eastern Rwanda, a few kilometers from the Tanzanian border.

The new arrivals on the border include mainly women and children who have been the first group to be transferred to this region where there is enough space to accommodate all of them.

They have reportedly fled their villages, fearing they could be attacked by elements of pro-government youths, locally known as "Imbonerakure," meaning those who see far, who have been unleashing terror in Burundi rural areas.

Burundi goes to the polls on May 26 for parliamentary elections, and then on June 26 for presidential election, tension is already high ahead of the polls.

Local observers say the tension has been exacerbated by incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term, a violation of the Arusha peace and reconciliation deal that brought the country's civil war to an end.

According to the latest figures issued by the Rwandan government, around 25,884 asylum seekers from Burundi arrived in the country over the last two months. Endi