The United Nations said Tuesday that almost 10,000 Burundians fled the country over the weekend before Burundi closed its borders ahead of controversial and violence-wracked elections in the country. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said that since Burundi's political turmoil began in April, roughly 144,000 people have fled the country, with the numbers surging towards the end of last week. "The pace this weekend spiked ... We saw over the weekend 10,000 more Burundians fleeing the country," UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva. More than 6,000 had arrived in neighboring Tanzania alone over the two days, bringing the total there to roughly 66,600. Another 56,500 are in Rwanda, 11,500 in Democratic Republic of Congo, and more than 9,000 in Uganda.
