UK provides humanitarian support for Burundian refugees

3 Jun 2015 12:54 PM

Support will provide essential food, medical care and clean water.

The UK is providing food, medical care and clean water as part of a £9.25 million emergency package to help refugees fleeing Burundi into Tanzania, the UK’s International Development Secretary Justine Greening has announced.

The announcement comes following a request for help by international aid agencies on the ground.

The UK’s £9.25 million package will help more than 46,000 Burundian refugees already in Tanzania by providing:

• £6.6 million to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to fund the transportation of people to safe areas in transit centres and refugee camps, as well as temporary shelter,emergency medical care and water and sanitation facilities
• £1.5 million to the World Food Programme to finance food rations
• £750,000 to Oxfam to improve water and sanitation, and
• up to £400,000 to support the deployment of humanitarian experts to the region.

Justine Greening said:

The recent violence in Burundi has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, deepening the already chronic refugee crisis in the region. The UK is acting swiftly to help thousands of people forced to flee their homes and currently living in cramped and unsanitary locations.

It is critical that we help prevent disease spreading and ensure that these people have access to shelter, medical care, food and safe drinking water.

Increasing political tension in Burundi over upcoming elections has led to violent unrest which has caused thousands of people to flee to the neighbouring countries of Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The situation for the refugees is bad, with overcrowded and unhygienic conditions making the spread of disease a real danger.

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