The UN refugee agency UNHCR has expressed concern for the thousands of refugees and other displaced people being forced to flee East Africa due to erratic climate events.

The agency said that in Kenya nearly 20,000 people in the Dadaab refugee camps -- which host more than 380,000 refugees -- have been displaced due to rising water levels.

Many of them are among those who arrived in the past couple of years after fleeing severe drought in neighboring Somalia, the UN agency said.

In Burundi, some 32,000 refugees -- almost half of the refugee population in the country -- are living in areas affected by floods. Around 500 of them require urgent assistance, the organization said.

Access to food and other necessities is increasingly difficult due to the high cost of moving goods with canoes, the agency continued, explaining that education has also ground to a halt as classrooms are flooded and learning materials destroyed.

The area of Nyanza Lac in Makamba province, which over the past few years has welcomed 25,000 Burundian refugees returning home from exile, is also heavily affected, UNHCR said.

Other countries in the region where the displaced are among the hardest hit include Somalia and Tanzania.

UNHCR's activities and the need for more aid to tackle climate change

The agency said it is working with local authorities and other partners to bring aid and protection services to refugees and affected communities.

In Kenya, the agency is providing refugees with relief items like tarpaulins, mosquito nets, hygiene kits, soap and jerricans.

UNHCR says it is also helping families relocate to safer areas until the waters recede.

In Burundi, the UNHCR says it will work with the local government to provide shelter kits and cash assistance to help refugees.

In Tanzania, the UNHCR says it is working with local partners to clean up refugee shelters. And in Somalia, the organization says it is providing protection and essential items to internally displaced families.