10,000 Burundians fled country over weekend before vote: UN

GENEVA: Nearly 10,000 Burundians fled the country over the weekend before Burundi closed its borders ahead of controversial and violence-wracked elections in the troubled central African nation, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Since Burundi’s political turmoil began in April, some 144,000 people have fled the country, with the numbers surging towards the end of last week, the UN refugee agency said.
“The pace this weekend spiked... We saw over the weekend 10,000 more Burundians fleeing the country,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.
More than 6,000 had arrived in neighbouring Tanzania alone over the two-day period, bringing the total there to around 66,600.
Another 56,500 are in Rwanda, 11,500 in Democratic Republic of Congo and more than 9,000 in Uganda, UNHCR said.
Burundian officials closed the borders late on Sunday ahead of Monday’s controversial parliamentary polls — something they claim is common practice during elections — and plan to reopen them late on Tuesday.
“Over the last 48 hours, refugees and people trying to flee have been resorting to trying to cross informal border crossings through the forest to leave the country,” Fleming said.
People arriving in neighbouring countries have told aid workers that roads are being blocked and that people suspected of heading to the border are being forced off buses, she said.
“Many said they had to walk for hours through the bush without luggage so as not to attract the attention of the militia and the police,” she said.
“We are concerned that people who want to flee to seek asylum, who fear their lives are in danger ... are not able to leave the country,” she added.