SOUTH AFRICA:THE SOUTH African government has decided against setting up large refugee camps for the tens of thousands of foreigners displaced by the recent xenophobic violence because they would hinder the refugees' reintegration into society.
After a bi-weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, government spokesman Themba Maseko said the administration was in favour of creating smaller temporary shelters around the country that could accommodate 2,000 people at a time.
"The view is that we should not opt for the creation of refugee camps, but prefer to create temporary shelters because . . . every attempt must be made to make sure that foreign nationals are integrated into communities as much as possible," he said.
While official estimates put the number of displaced by the violence at around 35,000, aid agencies claim the real figure is double that. Most of those affected have taken refuge in municipal buildings, churches and police stations around the country, where the conditions are worsening.
With winter beginning to bite in most provinces around the country, many people are still sleeping in army tents on ground sheets or out in the open.
According to the medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières, sanitary conditions for the displaced are worsening daily because of the lack of toilet and washing facilities for the large numbers seeking shelter. The medical charity said it was finding cases of diarrhoea and chest infections in overcrowded shelters near Johannesburg and other places.
In the Western Cape, where there are an estimated 20,000 refugees, officials have called on the government to declare certain areas as disaster zones because it would free up resources and allow local government to co-ordinate the relief effort.
During his press conference Mr Maseko said the cabinet had received a report from the special task team established to investigate the xenophobic attacks, and it had concluded that the violence could not be attributed to any single cause.
Although Mr Maseko said the report did not rule out the possible involvement of a "third force", he maintained that the violence had spread as a result of copycat activity in many instances and criminal elements had taken advantage of the situation to commit criminal acts.
To date 56 people have been killed and more than 650 injured in the attacks which started in Johannesburg's Alexandra informal settlement on May 11th last. More than 1,300 people have been arrested on charges ranging from murder to looting following raids by police and military units over the past week.