Burundi: Burundi Response Plan - Regional Update

Thousands of refugees continue to flee violence and civil unrest in Burundi, since the beginning of April. The inflow of refugees was first witnessed in Republic of Rwanda and, from the end of April/May onwards, increasingly to the United Republic of Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. Inexorably, the outflow of Burundians to neighbouring countries has dramatically increased. On April 22, UNHCR declared a Level 1 emergency and on May 11, in response to the worsening situation, a Level 2 emergency was declare d and a Regional Refugee Coordinator was appointed. To date, over 180,000 refugees have been registered by UNHCR in neighbouring countries.
Nevertheless it is commonly acknowledged that not all the Burundians who fled abroad approached UNHCR. Furthermore some of th em commute across the border, especially the border between Burundi and Tanzania