Paris, Kinshasa - The fighting in north Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has forced the MSF team there to evacuate the town of Kayna on December 15. MSF has been present in the town since January 2004 running a medical-nutritional programme.

Since Sunday, December 12, the team has established emergency assistance (medical consultations and distribution of emergency items) to the population fleeing the fighting in Kanyabayonga.

The entire population of this town, 17 kilometres south of Kayna, has fled. The majority of its inhabitants have gone towards Kayna and Kirumba. Moreover, before and during the evacuation, MSF was forced, several times, to hand over its vehicles to the military.

This type of incident endangers the security of our teams and compromises our neutrality in the eyes of other parties to the conflict, and thus makes its very difficult for us to continue our actions.

MSF's priority is to return and continue providing assistance to the displaced and wounded. In order to carry out our programmes, it is indispensable that the different armed groups respect neutral humanitarian activities.