BRAZZAVILLE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The humanitarian agencies based in the northern Likouala district in the Republic of Congo have appealed to the international community for assistance to the refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

    The number of refugees is estimated to hit 107,000 and is raising anxiety in the humanitarian agencies which seem to be overwhelmed by the situation due to the continued reduction in logistical support, the agencies told Xinhua this week.

    In some localities, refugees who have not received any assistance are leaving the sites along the River Oubangui to settle in some shelters which exposes them to bad weather.

    "For the last two months we have spent here, no single organization has come to our aid whether in health, food or education matters," complained Bernard Kokolo, one of the refugees at Dongou.

    The lack of assistance is being justified by the organizations' incapacity to take care of the massive influx of the refugees.

    "At the moment, we have no means. Initially, we were asked to come to the aid of 35,000 people but today, the number has tripled," head of the UNHCR office Daniel Roger Tam admitted.

    Owing to insufficient logistics and lack of materials, the humanitarian organizations find themselves incapable of assisting everybody despite their efforts to help these refugees based within a 250 km radius.

    "We have insufficient foodstuffs and non-foodstuff items (basins and kitchen utensils) as well as many more things that we have always distributed to these people in their shelters," the UNHCR chief in Congo noted.

    Aid workers also have the problem to accessing the sites because of the drop in water levels, which makes it difficult for the small boats to navigate across the River Oubangui.

    The difficult situation confronting the humanitarian organizations is raising fears of an outbreak of humanitarian crisis, prompting them to appeal to the public authorities and international organizations to get involved to avoid the worst.

    "We are calling upon the international community to provide us with the material and financial means so that we can help these people," Roger Tam reiterated.

    Regardless of the acute shortages being felt, the most precarious is the sanitation, which is likely to get worse despite the involvement of an NGO called African Doctors, who are working to prevent an epidemic outbreak.

    "We are carrying out operations with a view of ensuring that the most pressing needs that are created by this situation are well managed. We have dispatched mobile teams on the ground to provide medical attention to the displaced people," said Rufin Mafouta, who heads the African Doctors in Impfondo, the central area for refugees from DR Congo.

    The NGO plans to establish seven centers and five mobile units for the refugees.

    Brazzaville fears that the humanitarian situation could turn out to be a major security issue because of infiltration of both people and weapons from the other side of the border.

    Tens of thousands of people have been displaced since a tribal clash broke out in late October in Dongo in DR Congo's northwestern province of Equateur.