Photo of the week : distribution of poor quality flour to refugees at the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania

The January ration seems to be inedible in the eyes of Burundian and Congolese refugees in the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania. It consists of almost half-ground corn grains. Total disappointment is reported among the beneficiaries.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The year 2025 has not started well in the Nyarugusu camp located in northwest Tanzania. Refugees who were impatiently waiting for the January ration, distributed late, are disappointed by the very poor quality of corn flour received.

“It’s really not flour! It’s more like half-ground grains! In 5 kg, you can hardly extract 3 kg with a sieve. And so, we easily lose more than half of the quantity received,” explains a Congolese mother.

The dubious flour also has a bad smell and contains several grains of sand, according to Burundians who were supplied first.

Accustomed to “harassment and inhuman treatment,” Burundian refugees say they believed that “this is a punishment reserved for us.”

When they saw that it was the “same waste,” they understood that the situation concerns all the occupants of the Nyarugusu camp.

This week, Burundians and Congolese decided to organize a sit-in and presented this “inedible” flour to the office of the WFP (World Food Program) and the president of the camp.

“We put at least ten bags filled with this poor quality flour there. We asked them to taste this flour too and indicated that we fear for our health. They told us that we have to wait for the next distribution because the stocks are empty,” emphasized refugees’ representatives who took the bags of flour to the camp and WFP officials.

They indicate that they will not last a whole month and demand a new distribution of food assistance.

These refugees believe that it is unbelievable that a United Nations agency can distribute very poor quality food to refugees while it is the guarantor of their lives.

They suspect that there was corruption in the awarding of the supply contract because, they believe, “no one can receive hundreds of tons of such poor quality without realizing it.”

They call on the UNHCR to get involved in finding a solution to this problem.

The Nyarugusu camp is home to more than 110,000 refugees – including more than 50,000 Burundians, the rest being Congolese.

Our photo : flour criticized by refugees in the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania, January 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)