BUJUMBURA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- As the international community marked the World Refugee Day Monday, the United Nations Refugee Agency has "highly" commended the cooperation existing between the UNHCR and the Burundian government in the sector of assisting refugees.
"As we celebrate the World Refugee Day, I take this opportunity to highly commend cooperation existing between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Burundian government," said Madani Tall, deputy-representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Burundi during ceremonies marking the refugee day in the Burundian capital Bujumbura where urban refugees had gathered at Tempete playground.
Ceremonies were characterized by a soccer game between a team of urban refugees and a team of partners in the sector of assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Other events on the agenda were cultural songs and dances performances as well as an exhibition of products manufactured by refugees.
Ceremonies marking the World Refugee Day also took place at Kavumu refugee camp in the Burundian eastern province of Cankuzo.
The refugee day however comes at a time when urban refugees face challenges notably in terms of access to medical services.
"It is hard for us to have access to medical services because we have to pay 50 percent of fees in medical structures," said Lucie Bisako, an urban refugee who fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) in 2002, living in Gatumba town near the border with Burundi.
UNHCR Deputy-Representative in Burundi Madani Tall said, "A pilot project has been launched to look at ways of boosting urban refugees' access to health services, but refugees should not be more privileged than Burundian nationals."
Burundi hosts at least 55 thousand refugees living in four refugee camps including Gasorwe in Muyinga province, Musasa in Ngozi province, Bwagiriza in Ruyigi province and Kavumu in Cankuzo province.
Tall indicated that about 20 thousand of the refugees in Burundi are urban refugees.
He added that 90 percent of refugees living in Burundi are from the DR Congo.
