Attachments
In April, UNHCR officially handed over to national authorities the Kigamba hospital located in Cankuzo Province. The hospital comprising 19 infrastructures was constructed to enhance the healthcare services available to refugees, returnees, and the local population.
Moreover, 1,382 individuals, including 699 women and 683 men, were voluntarily repatriated to their home country of Burundi.
In addition, 2315 refugee identity cards were distributed to refugees by UNHCR and ONPRA ensuring that each refugee is officially recognized within the country of asylum, and has access to rights, protection, services, and opportunities.
Operational Context
As of April 2024, the security situation in Burundi was generally calm, although tainted by various criminality incidents across the country. These incidents did not affect UNHCR’s activities in Burundi. The El-Nino phenomenon has been the main threat affecting Burundi with excessive flooding causing deaths, destruction of public infrastructure, houses, and crops. Landslides block roads and bridges were destroyed resulting in delay of the delivery of UNHCR programs. Access to some refugee camps was difficult and forced staff to take several detours to reach the camps. Economically, the persistent shortage of fuels continued to pose a significant problem.