The Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs says the government is ready to accommodate the soaring number of Burundian refugees which currently stand at 43,000.

Antoine Ruvebana, Permanent Secretary in the Disaster Management Ministry, told Sunday Times yesterday that the government would not, as earlier envisaged, compel refugees – if they hit the 50,000 mark – to find other places for refuge.

"By last night [Friday evening], 1,400 more people came in and it is indication that the daily exodus has peaked again and we will in the next week have over 50,000. As of now, we have over 43,000 in camps but I’m sure we have more if you add the others who are catering for themselves in urban areas,” Ruvebana said.

"We revised our previous stand and, if they hit 50,000, we shall only have to bear with the situation. We will try our very best to accommodate them”.

By Thursday evening, statistics from the ministry indicated that there were 41,127 Burundian refugees in the country, not including the 5,107 registered in urban areas.

Thursday evening, 11,471 other urban-based refugees had been given appointments for registration but were not counted in the day’s total calculation.

In April, the government granted Burundians in the country prima facie refugee status.

At the time, the Minister for Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, Seraphine Mukantabana, said the decision was taken considering the overwhelming number of Burundians who continue to trek into the country seeking refuge.

In June, United Nations agencies, led by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and non-governmental organisations, made a joint appeal for more relief for Burundian refugees.

The Burundians, mostly children, started crossing into Rwanda since late March, with the majority of them arriving in the immediate aftermath of the April 26 decision by Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD party to front President Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the upcoming elections – a move that sparked violent protests that have since claimed more than 50 lives.

Government soon after started transferring them to Mahama Refugee Camp in Kirehe District, far from their country’s border with Rwanda.

In total, at least 127,000 Burundians have fled to neighbouring countries with Tanzania estimated to now host about 62,000, Uganda 8,855, the DR Congo 10,590, and Zambia 400, with the insecurity spurring on thousands more to flee.

Burundi is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Monday and presidential elections on July 15.

On Thursday, one of the country’s vice-presidents announced he had fled to Belgium, escalating a political crisis in the central African nation. Meanwhile, the same day, around 200 students slid under the gate and climbed over the wall into the compound.

Countering wood fuel challenge

Even as the government and aid agencies struggle to ensure the safety and comfort of the refugees, challenges persist.

One of them is the need to mind environment conservation as the refugee camps in the country consume hundreds of tons of fuel wood per day.

Ruvebana said that in the five refugee camps in the country which already harbour 71,000 Congolese refugees, fuel wood is being used.

However, he said, a pilot project has been started in Kigeme and Gihembe refugee camps where fuel saving cooking stoves were installed and the camps were using only 20 per cent fuel wood.

Once it works out properly, the project will be extended to all other refugee camps, including Mahama.

Four private companies are currently permitted to supply refugee camps with fire wood and these, he admitted, roam the country, looking for firewood. However, he stressed, they cooperate with government and only fetch firewood from permitted forests "and also make sure to re-plant trees where they have been cut.”

Ruvebana said: "It is a genuine challenge because wherever there are refugees; there will be an impact on the environment. All we do is mitigate the damage”.