Highlights
Although the daily trend of new arrivals rose to 250 per day last week, UNHCR and partners recorded 495 Burundian refugees on 8 June. UNHCR will monitor the situation to see if this is the beginning of a new trend.
On 8 June, UNHCR and the Ministry for Disaster Managment and Refugee Affairs(MIDIMAR), along with One UN sister agencies and non-governmental organizations briefed members of the doner and diplomatic community on the interagency appeal- Burundi Refugee Response Plan for Rwanda (RRP) - to protect and assist Burundian refugees in the country. Within the plan, participating agencies are appealing for funding needed to cover the response provided so far and to continue providing basic protection and assistance activities to Burundian refugees in Rwanda from 1 April through end September 2015, when the plan and needs will be reviewed.
Relocation from the reception centers to Mahama camp has resumed. As Mahama can currently accomodate an additional 1800 refugees, it has been decided to relocate 1500 from Bugesera and 300 from Nyanza this week.
MIDIMAR and UNHCR led an education assessment in Mahama camp with UNICEF, CARE, ADRA, and Plan International. The team identified 7000 school aged children who will be enrolled in a 6-month orientation progam from 22 June in order to prepare them for the 2016 academic year.
The Swedish-based Clowns Without Borders and Rwanda's own Gisenyi Acrobatic Troupe surprised refugees in Mahama camp with a performance. This has been first entertainment provided for Burundian refugees which was highly praised by the crowd.