Attachments
Highlights
- Burundi is facing a massive refugee influx from South Kivu, DRC, with 90,790 asylum seekers identified between 6 and 31 December 2025. Relocation operations have concentrated the majority of refugees at Busuma settlement, Ruyigi Commune, which is now hosting numbers far beyond its infrastructural capacities.
- The situation is particularly alarming given the poor accommodation conditions and thevery cold climatic conditions at the site. Inadequate shelter, limited access to warm clothing and water significantly increase the risks of hypothermia, respiratory infections, malnutrition and protection concerns, especially for children, pregnant women and older persons.
- This emergency is unfolding in an already overstretched humanitarian context, compounded by the continued response to over 36,000 refugees who arrived in February 2025, the expected return of more than 100,000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania, and the lingering impacts of recent floods on host communities and basic services.
- In response to this convergence of crises, UNICEF Burundi is scaling up life-saving interventions across WASH, Health, Nutrition, Child Protection and Education, and underscores the urgent need to strengthen winterization support and essential services, in close coordination with the Government and partners.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs update
Refugee arrivals from eastern DRC continue along Lake Tanganyika, with an average of around 100 new arrivals per day (UNHCR, Coordination meeting). The Busuma site now hosts over 67,000 refugees, the majority being women and children. The Cishemere transit site continues to host approximately 7,000 people, while Rumonge, partially decongested, still accommodates around 4,000 refugees, in a context of severely overstretched reception capacity and limited access to basic services.
Health services in Busuma are critically overstretched, with a single mobile clinic providing up to 1,500–2,000 consultations per day, mainly for malaria and acute watery diarrhea. A cholera outbreak is ongoing, with reported cases and deaths amid limited diagnostic capacity, inpatient beds and referral options. Priority needs include scaling up mobile clinics, essential medical supplies, ambulance services and disease surveillance.
Nutrition risks remain critical for children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women, driven by food insecurity and limited-service coverage. Admissions for severe acute malnutrition are increasing, while the absence of supplies for moderate acute malnutrition treatment heightens the risk of rapid deterioration. Mass screening and urgent mobilisation of nutrition supplies are required.
Access to WASH services is extremely inadequate, with water availability estimated at approximately 1.6 liters per person per day in Busuma, far below humanitarian standards. Insufficient sanitation facilities and ongoing open defecation significantly increase the risk of waterborne diseases, including cholera. Urgent priorities include expanding water production and storage, constructing latrines, and distributing soap and hygiene kits.
Protection concerns are high, with a large number of unaccompanied and separated children and heightened risks of violence, exploitation and abuse. Psychosocial support, case management and child-friendly spaces remain largely insufficient, while access to education is severely constrained due to the absence of learning spaces within the site and overcrowded surrounding schools.
Refugee households face extreme vulnerability, with very limited access to food, essential items and livelihoods. Delays in household registration constrain the rollout of cash assistance, while RCCE and accountability mechanisms remain insufficient to address the cholera outbreak and rising community tensions.