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Funds urgently needed as Tanzania camp numbers swell
The influx of 70,000 Burundian refugees to Tanzania is overstretching the capacity of the Tanzanian government and aid agencies to respond, Oxfam has said
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T
he influx of 70,000 Burundian refugees to Tanzania is overstretching the capacity of the Tanzanian government and aid agencies to respond, Oxfam has said.
The humanitarian aid agency said that although government and aid agencies were working hard to meet basic needs, more funds were urgently needed in order to purchase essential materials such as tents, water pipes, water-storage tanks and medical supplies.
'People are thirsty and tired; many are sick. They've gone through so much already just to get to this point, and what they need now is clean water, food and a place to sleep,' Oxfam Tanzania country director Jane
Foster said in a release on Monday.
"Oxfam is ready to scale up its response, but we urgently need funds to do so,' she said.
Due to the overcapacity, schools and churches have been turned into temporary accommodation places while more appropriate shelter are built.
"Families who have made the long journey from Burundi via the border town of Kagunga, where many spend up to three weeks in exposed, cramped conditions, are now either sheltering with hundreds of others in
schools, or under trees to escape the hot sun," Oxfam said.
Oxfam said it was responding in the Kagunga and Nyarugusu refugee camps, working with local partner TWESA to provide enough clean water for all. It is also building more toilets and carrying out hygiene education among the refugee community to reduce the risk of diseases spreading. Cholera has been confirmed in both locations; thus, educating people about how the disease is transmitted, and how to avoid it. is critical, the agency said. (ebf)(+++)
