PLAN INTERNATIONAL, UNICEF, IRC MOVE TO PROTECT CHILDREN REFUGEES IN KIGOMA

Refugees at Kagunga village getting on small boats and then to the waiting ship ready for departure to Kigoma. A temporary...








Refugees at Kagunga village getting on small boats and then to the waiting ship ready for departure to Kigoma.



A temporary shelter that has been set up for supporting children in Lake Tanganyika Stadium.

Desperate refugees awaiting the ship to ferry them from Kagunga village to Kigoma.



Refugees at Lake Tanganyika Stadium waiting to be transferred to Nyarugusu. (Photos:Emannuel Kihaule)





PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 23/05/2015    

Plan International, UNICEF, IRC move to protect children refugees in Kigoma

As Tanzania is struggling to cope with the sudden influx of refugees to Kigoma from the neighboring country of Burundi, Plan International has started working with other agencies to ensure safety and provide psycho-social support to refugee children.

Being among the first organisations to send field teams to Kagunga and Kigoma, Plan International is now working with the International Rescue Committee and UNICEF to set up three safe spaces for children to learn and play, as well as helping them receive support and referrals for further care. The centres will be at Lake Tanganyika Stadium and Nyarugusu Refugee Camp.

In the centres children are encouraged to take part in group activities and to discuss the difficulties that they and their families are facing.  The social workers will use these spaces to identify children that require more structured counseling or those that might be suffering from abuse or illness for appropriate action.  

Although Plan Internationals will be responsible for the running of these centres activities will be closely coordinated with UNICEF, IRC and any other agencies that form part of the Child Protection Working Group.

About three weeks ago thousands of refugees started fleeing instability in Burundi following attempts by the current President, Pierre Nkuruzinza, to run for a third term in the coming general elections. The refugees are now living in desperate, overcrowded conditions, at risk of disease and without shelter especially at a tiny village of Kagunga, found on shores of Lake Tanganyika.

By last week at least 50,000 had amassed at this village waiting for ship trips to take them across Lake Tanganyika to refugee camps in Kigoma.

Fears are growing that the situation could deteriorate dramatically over the coming days if the situation is not addressed.

“Refugees are piled together, squeezed between the hillside and the coastal line. There is not even room for them to set up makeshift shelters,” says Steve Williams, Plan International’s Emergencies Response Manager who has been deployed from the UK. “Families just sit on top of each other, as they wait and wait for the passage to the other side of the lake, where even worse conditions await them,” he adds.

On arrival, they are processed at Kigoma Football Stadium, now a transit camp, before being taken to the permanent Nyarugusu camps further inland, which is already hugely overcrowded.

There is a cholera outbreak in all the refugees’ camps with over 3000 cases of serious diarrhea having been reported in the three locations. The total number of confirmed cholera deaths is so far 30 from all camps with 7 more deaths attributed to other diseases including malaria.

Plan International through Red Cross Tanzania has also supported the deployment of 20 health workers in Kigoma from the neighboring regions to help in addressing the health challenges among the refugee population.

“It’s hard for authorities to keep pace with the new intake so families are being kept here for days on end, with limited clean water and sanitation facilities,” says Mr. Williams, from the football stadium. “There are many unaccompanied children with others separated from their families during the withdrawing exercise. The signs of severe malnutrition especially among children are so viscid. So far there is no violence at Kagunga but one cannot guarantee that the situation will remain the same for a long time due to the desperate situation,” he said adding:

“The next few days are crucial. The international community is going to have to pull together to get on top of this emergency in order to save lives.”

Burundi has been increasingly unstable since President Pierre Nkurunziza was announced by his party that he would run for a third term, sparking protest which culminated in a failed coup last week.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Who We Are
Plan International is a global child centered community development organization founded 70 years ago and is currently operating in 71 countries throughout the world, including Tanzania.

In Tanzania
Plan International commenced its operations in Tanzania in 1991 supporting vulnerable children and their families access health care, education, safe sanitation and water, productive livelihoods and protection of their well being. It now operates in 11 regions– Dar es Salaam, Coast, Mwanza, Geita, Morogoro. Dodoma, Rukwa, Lindi and Mtwara reaching over 2 million children and their communities in the country. 


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