Approximately 24,000 refugees have arrived in northern Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, after fleeing serious violence in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An MSF emergency team is providing medical assistance to these refugees who are also in critical need of food and material aid.

"There is no assistance for the refugees - no food, no water, no shelter," said Dr. Salha Issoufou, emergency coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "The families are scattered along the river, outside."

MSF is now offering medical care to refugees in Inpfoudou, a region in northern Congo-Brazzaville, and is setting up mobile clinics at various sites where refugees have gathered.  The MSF team will also provide additional support to the Bétou hospital, where the most serious cases are being treated.

MSF is urging other humanitarian actors to provide immediate material aid, specifically shelters, and to distribute food. United Nations agencies and government authorities have announced that they will hold material aid distributions, but this aid has not yet reached those in need.

"There is a critical need for additional humanitarian aid here," Dr. Issoufou says. "The local population is already sharing its resources with the waves of refugees that have arrived in the wake of a host of conflicts. They no longer have the resources to respond to this latest wave."

MSF has donated medicine to several medical facilities and will continue to do so, based on needs at the region's health care facilities.

"The primary health problem among the refugees is diarrhea," Dr. Issoufou explains. "They drink river water, which makes them sick. There's malaria, too, because there are a lot of mosquitoes along the river."

Wells in several villages where refugees are taking shelter must be repaired to improve access to water. If other aid actors cannot take action quickly, MSF also plans to distribute plastic sheeting, blankets and mosquito nets.

In late October fighting occurred in the town of Dongo in Equateur province, in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo. For the last 50 years, two community groups have been in conflict over fishing and land rights. One of the group's militia launched an attack on October 29, which led to the death of 47 police officers and many civilians. The violence continued to escalate, the town was occupied for 10 days and hundreds of houses were burned.

Thousands of people fled. Some took refuge in the Congo-Brazzaville, while others tried to cross the river to reach the other side of the border. Refugees who gathered at sites close to the frontier are still afraid that their assailants will reach them.

Approximately 30 wounded patients arrived at the Bétou hospital in early November.  "One of the doctors at the hospital had surgical skills and was able to treat some of them," Issoufou says. "The serious cases were referred to better-equipped hospitals, but the wounded died before they could get there.