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UNHCR warns of catastrophe as cholera hits Burundian refugees in Tanzania

Xinhua, May 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations refugees agency on Tuesday appealed for more support from the international community as the number of Burundian refugees suffering from cholera reached over 1,000.

"The problem will most likely be worse than we see now," said Joyce Mends-Cole, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Tanzania.

At least 17 Burundian refugees have died so far of the deadly disease caused by poor sanitation in areas where the refugees were being accommodated.

Mends-Cole said Doctors Without Borders arrived in Kigoma, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania, on Tuesday to help in dealing with the public health crisis.

She warned that as more Burundians arrived in Kiogma, the relocation of refugees who might have caught cholera will pose a threat to hosts in the areas.

Tanzania's authorities were working with the UNHCR in trying to contain the situation but they were reportedly too overwhelmed to deal with the ever increasing number of refugees.

On Sunday, UNHCR said 70,000 Burundian refugees have fled to Tanzania following political upheavals in the east African nation triggered by Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to extend his term in office. Endi