The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has raised concern over the rising exodus of Burundians into neighboring countries amid ongoing instability in the country.
The country has been rocked by violent protests and what UN experts have described as “growing” government repression since President Pierre Nkurunziza stood for and won a controversial third term in office in 2015.
According to UNHCR, neighboring countries such as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are struggling to cope with the new arrivals.
The pressure is most acute in Tanzania, where 600 people arrive daily.
The refugee agency says that since April last year more than 386,000 people have fled Burundi and numbers are expected to pass the half-a-million mark in 2017 if the instability inside Burundi continues.
