Cholera and severe diarrhea are starting to spread amongst the tens of thousands of Burundi refugees because of the lack of sanitation in Kagunga, Tanzania. The health infrastructure and sanitation facilities of the small village are not enough to support the mass amount of people that have showed up over the past three weeks, with 500 to 2000 new people showing up daily.

The refugees have fled Burundi in fear of political violence as the June election approaches. Their President of the last ten years has made a questionable and unconstitutional move by signing up to the run for a third term. Thousands of people have been protesting his candidacy over the past three weeks because they feel it is an obstruction of their constitution.

The peace accords and Constitution that were set in 2005 outlined that a person may only serve for two terms as president. However, because President Pierre Nkurunziza was elected by Parliament for the first term,  the constitutional courts have ruled that technically Nkurunziza can be elected by the population for an additional two terms.

Before 2005, Burundi was a country ravaged by a civil war that lasted 12 years. So while many Burundians are protesting in the streets, others have fled in fear of violence because the thought of war is a not so distant memory for them.

There is not enough safe drinking water to provide for the more than 90,000 people that are now living in Kagunga. (In April there were only 11,382 people living there.) This scenario makes it easy for diseases to spread and cholera and acute diarrhea are starting to be an issue. According to the WHO, seven people have died of diarrhea already. There are real refugee camps in Kigoma, Tanzania about three hours away from Kagunga. However, only 1200 people are able to be transported each day, leaving the conditions of Kagunga dangerous for the remaining population while cholera and diarrhea continue to spread.

The protesters are staying in Burundi until President Nkurunziza steps down from his second, and what should be his last term. It doesn’t look likely though because last week Nkurunziza fired some of his top military officials for attempting to stage a coup.

Elections are not until June 26 in Burundi. So if the situation does not change, meaning Nkurunziza doesn’t withdraw his bid for reelection, protests will only become more intense and conditions in Tanzania will worsen.