NORTHERN PROVINCE

GICUMBI — Congolese refugees living at Gihembe refugee camp, in Gicumbi District, have been asked to work hand in hand with local communities to protect the environment.

The district official in charge of Good Governance, Safari Nkurunziza, made the call last Friday during celebrations to mark World Refugees Day.

"You should work closely with neighboring communities to plant trees and make water trenches along the camp in order to avoid soil erosion caused by floods,” Nkurunziza said. He further added that the district is committed to ensuring that refugees are fully accorded their rights to proper feeding, provision of health facilities and education for their children.

 "We should all be voices of the refugees,” Nkurunziza, who represented Mayor Bonane Nyangezi at the function said.

Addressing the refugees, an official from the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kigali Emmanuel Safari, noted  that there is a  general reduction in food rations for refugees at Gihembe camp which he attributed to the current world financial meltdown.

"The current world financial crisis also affected WFP because our donors too face financial constraints. WFP is however, committed to supply enough quantity of food rations to refugees in two months time,” he promised.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) official in Byumba, Richard Rwenzo Ndaula called upon the refugees to live in harmony with neighboring communities by respecting the laws of the land.

"The World Refugees Day is meant to remember and care for all the refugees in the world,” said Ndaula.

Among those present at the function were representatives of agencies based at the Gihembe Refugee camp.

They included the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), American Refugee Committee (ARC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

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