Refugees International is sending an assessment mission to Tanzania and Kenya. The mission will focus on conditions in camps for Burundian and Congolese refugees in Tanzania and for Somali Bantu and Sudanese refugees in Kenya. Advocate Anne Edgerton and Assistant Director of Development Antonia Blackwood are being joined on the Tanzania portion of the mission by two members of RI's Board of Directors, Trish Malloch Brown and Eileen Shields-West.

In Tanzania, issues of particular concern to RI include equal access by girls to camp services and whether returns by Burundian refugees remain voluntary. In Kenya, in addition to the issue of girls' access to services, the RI team will look into the status of resettlement efforts for Somali Bantu and Sudanese minors. There have been reports of breaks in the food pipeline for refugee camps throughout East Africa, so RI will also be looking into the availability of food rations in the camps that we visit.

The assessment mission will be completed in mid-May.