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Tanzania: Population Movement Emergency Appeal n° MDRTZ017 Operations Update no.4

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Summary:

Since late April 2015, there has been ongoing violence in Burundi, resulting in a number of casualties in the capital of Bujumbura. Two hundred and fifty six thousand ,six hundred and seventy two (256,672) people have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As of 6 April 2016, 137,434 people (UNCHR) have settled in Tanzania, with the majority (75,165) being hosted in the Nyarugusu camp (Kigoma Province), which was built in 1997 to accommodate 50,000 Congolese refugees.

Following the influx of Burundi refugees, the Nyarugusu camp is now rated the third largest refugee settlement in the world and is overcrowded with stretched resources that are insufficient to meet the needs of a population of 74,886 Burundians and 64,181 Congolese refugees. Tanzania continues to witness arrivals of refugees on an average of 150-200 people per day. Based on UNHCR contingency plan, a total of 250,000 Burundi nationals are expected to arrive in Tanzania by October 2016. The Government of Tanzania (GoT) has set up 3 locations for new camps to resolve this situation and accommodate the Burundi refugees, in Mtendeli, Nduta and potentially Karago. Each camp is expected to host between 50,000 to 60,000 refugees. But as of April 2016, Nduta is almost full (53,951), all the new refugees will be hosted in Mtendeli camp which will result to a significant increase for that camp, requiring rapid demand of services to cope with the influx. In October 2015, the TRCS was requested by UNCHR to expand the provision of health services into the Mtendeli camp, continue existing services and take on those currently being provided by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Nyarugusu camp. The process started in January 2016.

The risk of disease outbreaks in the overcrowded camps remains high and necessitates strengthening of epidemiological surveillance in the refugee camps, particularly on hygiene related diseases with the countrywide cholera outbreak that has more than 6,000 reported cases over 14 regions (for more information please refer to MDRTZ018 Tanzania: Cholera Emergency Appeal). The population in Nyarugusu camp faced cholera in May 2015, resulting in 33 deaths. The needs have continued to change and increased and this update incorporates the urgent needs to expand the support to vital facilities such as health posts in Nyarugusu and Mtendeli camps.