LONDON – Save the Children, an NGO, said on Saturday that children as young as six are fleeing political unrest in Burundi, travelling for days on foot without their parents to refugee camps.
Many parents stay behind to protect their homes from looting and possible destruction in Burundi’s worst crisis since its ethnically charged civil war in 2005, while sending their children to what they hope is safety.
More than 2,300 children have fled Burundi separated from their families and often completely alone in the last six weeks, the children’s charity said.
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Save the Children East Africa operations manager, Edwin Kuri, said already the numbers of children arriving alone or separated from their families were unprecedented.
President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term, in spite of a two-term limit under the constitution, has sparked almost daily protests in Burundi since April 26.
As of June 5, more than 96,000 people had fled clashes between police and anti-government protesters.
They have made their way to Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Uganda, according to the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.
“Children as young as six years old have arrived alone at the Mahama camp in Rwanda exhausted and frightened, some without shoes and with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.
“A three-year-old toddler got to the camp in the care of its 12 year-old sibling, they had made the long and difficult journey on their own,’’ Kuri was quoted as saying.
According to UN, nearly 60 percent of all newly arrived refugees in Rwanda are children.
Burundi’s electoral body announced on Wednesday it had delayed planned local and parliamentary elections “until another date that is unknown” in response to an appeal from African leaders.
The NGO said it feared more would flee the east African country as the risk of violence escalates in the run up to a presidential vote scheduled for June 26.
On Monday, the UN released some 15 million dollars in emergency funds to help refugees in Rwanda and Tanzania
Refugee camps in both countries were already overcrowded as Rwandan refugees were queuing for up to six hours for water.
Demand for antenatal consultations in Tanzania had increased six fold as a result of the influx. (Reuters/NAN)
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