Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has opened a clinic in the Busuma refugee camp. The clinic will provide primary healthcare while supporting the Ministry of Health at a cholera treatment centre.

Doctors Without Borders Issues Urgent Warning as Disease Threatens Overcrowded Camp

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter), Doctors Without Borders has opened an emergency clinic in Busuma camp in Burundi. The new clinic will support the Ministry of Health in addressing the growing humanitarian crisis in the refugee camp.

Authorities say at least 65,000 people have settled in the refugee camp in Ruyigi. This follows a massive influx of Congolese refugees into Burundi since December 2025.

Julien Binet, an emergency coordinator for MSF in Burundi, warned the government of an imminent outbreak of epidemics from camp overcrowding and poor health facilities. Binet also reported several suspected cases of measles and cholera, leading to several deaths in the Busuma refugee camp.

“It is a race against time for all response partners to organize and absorb this massive influx.”

“We have recorded two deaths since our activities began, one at the cholera treatment centre and one at our clinic,” Binet said.

BURUNDI🇧🇮:
In Busuma camp, Ruyigi, 65,000 people have been officially settled.
MSF has opened a clinic in the camp to provide primary healthcare to the population and is supporting the Ministry of Health in a cholera treatment centre (CTC). pic.twitter.com/HsXF8s9aPx

— MSF East Africa (@MSF_EastAfrica) January 13, 2026

A previous report by SOS Média Burundi states the small East African nation received nearly 90,000 Congolese refugees in December alone. This adds to more than 70,000 who arrived earlier in the year, increasing humanitarian and security pressures.

According to Charity Journal’s sources, people are fleeing fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo in droves. The conflict involves the FARDC (the Congolese army), Burundian soldiers, local Wazalendo militias, and M23 rebels.

Burundi has repatriated many of its troops from the DRC since early December. This followed M23 advances. Clashes continue despite a Washington peace agreement signed on December 4, 2025.

Doctors Without Borders Race Against Time to Prevent Disease Outbreak

MSF reported that over 88,000 refugees have fled to Burundi since the recent escalation of violence in South Kivu province. Living conditions in the camps are dire. People have limited access to clean water, food, and basic hygiene. Still, new arrivals continue to come.

Around 29,000 people are at the Bweru long-term campsite in eastern Burundi. They also receive aid from authorities and international organizations. Meanwhile, MSF is supporting a 50-bed cholera treatment centre in a valiant attempt to contain the disease. 

Previously, Doctors Without Borders has raised alarm over dire humanitarian conditions in Congo after shuttering some of its operations in the region.#