Burundi - March 2025

In March, the United Nations (UN) reported that at least 70,000 people fleeing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo had crossed into Burundi since the start of the year, marking the country’s largest refugee influx in decades. The majority of new arrivals are women, children, and the elderly. Many are living in overcrowded transit camps, schools, churches, and stadiums, with some sleeping in open fields. The UN described conditions in the camps as ‘extremely dire.’ The crisis is worsening food insecurity across Burundi, where over 70 per cent of the population already struggles to meet basic needs and nearly 56 per cent of children under five suffer from stunting (impaired growth due to malnutrition), further complicating humanitarian support efforts. The World Food Programme is providing hot meals to new arrivals but cut rations for existing refugees in March–from 75 per cent to 50 per cent of the full food entitlement–due to limited resources.

Sources: News Central, United Nations, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Food Programme, Associated Press, Reuters