5,000 flee to Rwanda

More than 5,000 Burundians flee to Rwanda over the weekend bringing the total number of arrivals to nearly 21,000. The Rwandan government expects the number of Burundians arriving in the country to rise to 50,000. Most of the arrivals in Rwanda are women and children, adding that the refugees report facing intimidation and threats of violence linked to upcoming elections.  Rwanda, which is already hosting more than 74,000 refugees mainly from neighbouring DR Congo, has allocated land in Mahama in the Eastern Province for a new refugee camp, with the capacity to hold up to 50,000 people. UN agencies:

There has been a sharp increase in the number of Burundian refugees arriving in Rwanda…Five thousand people entering the country in two days is quite a significant jump… It is certainly concerning…The situation is quite chaotic at the moment…We think that this violence might continue and this fear of violence might continue and that there might be a bigger outflux, particularly to Rwanda.

Another 3,800 Burundians have fled to the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of July.