BUJUMBURA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 34 cholera cases, including one death, have been reported at the Busuma refugee camp in eastern Burundi, the Burundi National Radio and Television (RTNB) reported on Friday.
The Busuma refugee camp, located in Kayongozi Zone, Ruyigi District, Buhumuza Province, has a hosting capacity of 20,000 people. As of Thursday, it had received more than 21,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to RTNB.
These figures were revealed during a visit to the Busuma refugee site on Thursday, jointly organized by the National Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA) and the Buhumuza Provincial Administration.
Fiacre Nkunzimana, representing ONPRA, said the refugees urgently need potable water, shelters, food and medicines.
The refugee camp in Buhumuza began receiving DRC refugees on Dec. 9, with 1,031 people arriving at the site on the first day, according to the report.
Earlier, Burundian authorities called for urgent international assistance for more than 70,000 DRC asylum seekers who have fled violence in eastern DRC and sought refuge in Burundi since Dec. 5.
