Nairobi - Refugees fleeing political violence in Burundi are arriving in Tanzania aboard a century-old German warship turned ferry that inspired the book and film 'The African Queen'.
The UN refugee agency has hired the MV Liemba, built in Germany in 1913, to carry fearful Burundian refugees along Lake Tanganyika to safety in neighbouring Tanzania.
"The MV Liemba is being used right now as the only boat to ferry people to Tanzania," said Joyce Mends-Cole, UNHCR's representative in Tanzania.
The vessel was once a feared gunboat defending the African lake for Kaiser Wilhelm II during World War I, but today it is a lifeline for refugees.
Official figures say that 23,000 refugees have arrived in Tanzania -- with 33,000 more going to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- but Mends-Cole said "numbers are rising fast".
The MV Liemba can carry 600 refugees at a time from the Burundi-Tanzania border town of Kagunga, to the port of Kigoma.
Each three-hour voyage costs UNHCR $10,500 (9,400 Euros), or roughly $17.50 (16 Euros) per person.
Thousands are fleeing Burundi amid political tensions surrounding a bid by President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in power for a third term, which opposition and rights activists say is unconstitutional.
There are fears the crisis, which has left 20 dead in clashes in the capital Bujumbura, could plunge the small central African nation back into civil war.
In happier times the MV Liemba carries fare-paying customers for whom the ferry is the only mode of transport up and down the lake, but it is as critical in times of crisis, helping refugees find safety from violence and a way home when peace is restored.
AFP
