South African authorities on Sunday began transferring busloads of immigrants who have been sheltering in police stations from a wave of xenophobic attacks to organised tent camps, officials said.
”Three buses have transported them from Rabie Bridge Police station to a temporary shelter in Contryview, in Midrand,” said Thabo Masebe, a spokesperson for the Gauteng provincial government.
A total of 10 camps are due to be built in the next few weeks to house up to 10 000 foreign nationals who have been forced out of their homes since an eruption of violence last month which left more than 60 people dead.
The worst of the violence was concentrated in and around Johannesburg, where foreigners have become targets of complaints by locals about high unemployment and crime levels.
While thousands of the immigrants have fled back to their homelands such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique, many others have been taking shelter in police stations and community centres — often having to sleep head to toe and with an acute lack of toilet facilities.
Seven of the sites were meant to have opened on Sunday but a number were not expected to now be ready until Monday.
Masebe said that a total of 9 734 people had been sheltering in the police stations and community centres and that their living conditions should markedly improve in the tents which will accommodate up to five people.
”We have purchased 2 000 tents and there are more tents that will be provided by different forces,” he said.
”People in the tents will have access [to] a number of facilities, such as toilets, washing areas, cooking areas. We will also provide very basic primary healthcare.
”The temporary shelters will be a great improvement from the conditions under which people are living now.”
However, the aid agency Oxfam said that an assessment of one of the sites, near the small Rand Airport site, had found insufficient toilets and a water tanker lacked any taps.
”Although the Gauteng provincial government and disaster management centre have done an enormous amount in the last 24 hours in setting up camps for the new arrivals, Oxfam is concerned minimum standards of humanitarian assistance and protection have not been met,” said Chris Leather, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator.
”Adequate water, sanitation, and security facilities should have been in place ahead of relocations.” – AFP
