The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, is visiting the camps in western Tanzania which house thousands of Burundian refugees.

Mrs Ogata told the BBC she wanted international pressure to be put on governments that harass their populations and forced them from their homes.

The camps are Mrs Ogata's first stop on a 10-day tour of the Great Lakes region and Southern Africa.

Large numbers of Burundians fleeing the civil war are continuing to arrive in Tanzania - more than 10,000 people this month alone, bringing to 300,000 the total number of Burundian refugees in Tanzania.

Refugees accuse both government troops and rebels of burning villages in Burundi.

'Forced from homes'

Mrs Ogata visted the Kirago Camp, which opened late last year as a contingency site.

It now has 20,000 people living under plastic tarpaulins amid grass and trees, with water in short supply.

Refugees in the camp told her how they were forced from their homes in Burundi.

A small child said her house had been burned, but she did not know who did it or why.

The refugees' stories suggest that both the Tutsi dominated army and mainly Hutu rebels are pursuing almost a scorched earth policy and the ordinary people are caught in the middle.

Mandela accuses leaders

On Sunday, former South African President Nelson Mandela told representatives of the Burundian Government and opposition that they had failed their people.

Mr Mandela was speaking in the Tanzanian town of Arusha where he launched a new bid to revive the peace process.

The former president squarely blamed Burundi's politicians for failing to show the talent and vision needed to end the brutal civil war that has cost some 200,000 lives in the last six years.

Mr Mandela's speech was greeted with a standing ovation, and politicians admitted that his words