KAMPALA, Jul 5, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Over 150 Burundians were last week given refugee status in Uganda, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official has said.
The UNCHR spokesperson in Uganda, Roberta Russo told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday that 153 Burundians were given refugee status in Uganda and are now living in Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp in Mbarara district, southern Uganda.
She noted that among the 153 refugees there were 51 families that were registered.
Russo said that the number of Burundians in Uganda is now 824.
According to an official of the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala, the refugees fled their homes in Kamenge near Bujumbura after violence erupted as parliamentary elections in the central African county.
Burundi held national assembly elections on Monday, a key step toward selecting a president under a peace plan designed to end 12 years of ethnic bloodshed.