• by IPS Correspondents (dar es salaam)
• Wednesday, December 14, 1994
• Inter Press Service

DAR ES SALAAM, Dic 14 (IPS) - THE INTERNATIONAL DONOR COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY PLEDGED TO CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS TO HELP THE LOCAL POPULATION IN TANZANIA AFFECTED BY THE INFLUX OF BURUNDI AND RWANDAN REFUGEES.

IN MAY, THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRY APPEALED TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 12.3 MILLION DOLLARS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN AREAS HIT BY THE INFLUX OF EXILED PEOPLES.

JOSEPH RWEGASIRA, TANZANIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER, SAID HERE WEDNESDAY THAT THE DONOR COMMUNITY HAD MADE A POSITIVE RESPONSE TO HELPING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE WESTERN KAGERA PROVINCE, THE WORLD'S LARGEST REFUGEE CENTRE.

"DONORS HAVE RESPONDED POSITIVELY TO TANZANIA'S APPEAL BY PLEDGING FINANCIAL AS WELL AS MATERIAL ASSISTANCE TO COMMUNITIES IN KAGERA PROVINCE WHICH HOSTS MORE THAN 500,000 RWANDESE REFUGEES," SAID RWEGASIRA.

SINCE OCTOBER, AN UNPRECEDENTED INFLUX OF MORE THAN 600,000 BURUNDI AND RWANDAN REFUGEES CAMPED IN NGARA DISTRICT ON THE TANZANIA-RWANDA BORDER.

BURUNDI NATIONALS BEGAN TO FLEE THEIR HOME COUNTRY IN OCTOBER, LAST YEAR, FOLLOWING THE BRUTAL ASSASSINATION OF THE COUNTRY'S FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED PRESIDENT MELCHIOR NDADAYE.

RWANDAN REFUGEES ALSO FLED TO TANZANIA AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL, ESCAPING ETHNIC VIOLENCE THAT FLARED UP AFTER THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT JUVENAL HABYARIMANA, WHO TOGETHER WITH HIS BURUNDI COUNTERPART, CYPRIEN NTARYAMIRA, WERE KILLED WHEN THE PLANE THEY WERE IN WAS SHOT DOWN NEAR THE RWANDAN CAPITAL, KIGALI.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE BURUNDI AND RWANDAN REFUGEES HAS ADVERSELY AFFECTED TANZANIA'S ECONOMY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORITIES HERE.

"EVEN BEFORE THE REFUGEES, DISTRICTS NEIGHBOURING BURUNDI AND RWANDA HAD SHORTAGES OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES AND POOR INFRASTRUCTURES. THE INFLUX OF REFUGEES HAD WORSENED THE SITUATION," CLEOPA MSUYU, TANZANIA'S PRIME MINISTER TOLD A DONORS' CONFERENCE HERE.

"FROM THAT BACKGROUND, TANZANIA NEEDS HELP FROM HER DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS IN MEETING THE CHALLENGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INFLUX OF RWANDA AND BURUNDI REFUGEES," ADDED MSUYA.

STATE OFFICIALS IN KAGERA PROVINCE SAID THE LARGE NUMBER OF REFUGEES LED TO A DEPLETION IN FOOD STOCKS AMONG THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE FIRST DAYS BEFORE DONOR AGENCIES BEGAN SENDING RELIEF SUPPLIES.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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