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BURUNDI: THOUSANDS FLEE TO TANZANIA IN FEAR OF DROUGHT January 17, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) At least 2,500 people have fled Burundi for neighbouring Tanzania since December to escape a drought in the eastern province of Ruyigi, a provincial governor said on Monday.
Close to 771 people were sheltering in a refugee camp in the Tanzanian city of Kigoma, while others were with Tanzanian families who were paying them for working in their farms.
"Over 2,500 have fled their homes because of hunger," Moise Bucumi, the governor of Ruyigi province said.
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza In his New Year's message, said the government had decided to cut tax on imported food from 30 percent to five percent to feed thousands of rural people facing food shortages.
Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and parts of Tanzania are among eastern African countries by affected by drought. Burundian authorities say the worst hit region is the northern province of Kirundo, which borders Rwanda, where five out of seven districts are affected.
"We are very concerned by that situation, we need more assistance from aid organisations," Provincial Governor, Francois Singayimihetotold Reuters.
He said although the affected families had tried to flee to Rwanda in search of food, they found the area was also affected by drought, forcing them to return home to depend on food aid from the World Food Programme (WFP).
World Food Programme has revealed that by December it had provided food aid to about 80 percent of 1.5 million people living in the eastern and northern provinces of Burundi affected by hunger.