Reuters AlertNet Lite - SOUTH AFRICA: Government to set up shelters for the displaced

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

SOUTH AFRICA: Government to set up shelters for the displaced

29 May 2008 18:28:09 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• South Africa violence

JOHANNESBURG, 29 May 2008 (IRIN) - The South African government decided on 29 May to establish small, temporary shelters for foreigners displaced by the recent xenophobic violence, rather than larger, more permanent refugee camps.

The plan calls for the provinces affected by the violence to be declared disaster areas, in order to release funds in terms of the Disaster Management Act. The Gauteng and Western Cape provincial governments are working quickly to locate appropriate sites for the temporary shelters, according to a statement by the government.

To what extent the plan will involve international aid agencies, like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is unclear, although UN officials are consulting with provincial governments and visiting existing temporary shelters.

The South African government stressed that the new shelters should be temporary, and that it intended reintegrating foreigners into their communities.

Paul Mashatile, the acting premier of Gauteng, South Africa's richest province, told local media that 10 temporary places of safety would be established in the province for displaced nationals.

Gauteng was the epicentre of the xenophobic violence that began more than two weeks ago and rapidly spread through many of South Africa's provinces, claiming the lives of at least 56 people. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and many others have fled to their countries of origin.

At a fractious camp north of Pretoria, in Gauteng, where Somali and Eritrean nationals have been fighting with other nationalities, people were sceptical about the planned reintegration, and were asking for assistance from the UN rather than the South African government.

"We need international help," said Malcolm Guilherme, from Angola, who is staying in one of 44 tents with his wife, daughter and three other families. "This [South African] government is limited. If they want to put people back [into their communities], they must help us. We lost everything, all of our goods. We have to have financial help."

Benny Aho, originally from Ethiopia, said many of the foreigners did not trust the South African government, and that was why they were insisting on UN intervention.

"We are refugees," said Aho, an accountant who said he could not get work in South Africa. "We are waiting. The UNHCR is appointed by the UN to help us. They [the South African government] send us here and ignore us."

Residents at the camp complained that food distributions were infrequent. Guilherme said the four families in his tent received three cans of beans and two of fish for a meal on 28 May, and then nothing until 29 May in the afternoon, when they received bread, soup and oranges, but he complained that it was the first meal of the day, and leaving the camp to buy food was seen as dangerous.

The Pretoria municipality's Emergency Management Services are coordinating the distribution of food contributed by various civil society groups. There is one medical tent in the camp, but immunisations are planned to start soon. The water supply has been intermittent, but showers are planned for the near future.

Besides the temporary shelters, the government's plan will establish special courts to rapidly prosecute those arrested for violence; ensure proper food, clothing and medical supplies; educate affected communities so foreign nationals can return safely, and increase the speed at which basic services are supplied.

A number of people interviewed questioned how they could return to the communities when they had no resources.

"Many people had their own businesses," said Mohammed Dahir, a Somali who has been in South Africa for 11 years. "Some had businesses worth more than R400,000 (US$53,000) and now they have nothing, not even clothes. How are people going to survive? The people who have been hurting us are still there."

tj/go/he

Email this article Send comments

Topics

• Refugees & displacement

MORE >>

Emergencies

• South Africa violence

MORE >>

NGO latest

• Dominican Republic: Dominican Republic: Of Baseball Players and Migration Laws
Refugees International - USA

• UMCOR Hotline for May 27, 2008
UMCOR - USA

• More Than Half of 2.4 Million Myanmar Survivors Await Relief: ADRA Expands Aid
ADRA - International

• Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ever more civilians suffer the effects of armed violence in North Kivu
ICRC - Switzerland

• South Africa: ICRC supplies aid for victims of violence
ICRC - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

• SOUTH AFRICA: Government to set up shelters for the displaced

• PREVIEW-UN council to tackle Sudan, Somalia on Africa trip

• SOUTH AFRICA: Links between HIV and mental illness overlooked

• INTERVIEW-Violence in S.Africa puts W.Cup at risk-UN adviser

• ZIMBABWE: Mounting violence does not speed up deployment of election monitors

MORE >>

IRIN news

Interested in humanitarian issues? Take a quick survey here.

Breaking stories

SOUTH AFRICA: Government to set up shelters for the displaced (1 minute ago)

PREVIEW-UN council to tackle Sudan, Somalia on Africa trip (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight

MEDIAWATCH: South Africa violence tells of a nation in crisis (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed

Dominican Republic: Dominican Republic: Of Baseball Players and Migration Laws (1 minute ago)

Blogs

Challenging assumptions about northern Uganda (1 minute ago)

Maps

MAP: Violence against foreigners in South Africa and regional Movements (as of 28 May) (1 minute ago)

Country information

Briefings

South Africa violence - [Who works where]

Topics

Refugees & displacement

Facts & figures

Angola

South Africa

Ethiopia

Statistics graphs

Refugees residing here (2006)

View more stats >>

Del.icio.us | Digg

Digg |

NewsVine | Reddit

Latest images

Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-29T141240Z_01_PEK21_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK21.htm

Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-29T141037Z_01_PEK20_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK20.htm

Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-29T140855Z_01_PEK19_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK19.htm

Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-29T140651Z_01_PEK18_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK18.htm

Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-29T140420Z_01_PEK17_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK17.htm

REFILE - CAPTION CLARIFICATION Caustic smoke billows from a chemical reaction involving bleaching powder and disinfectant near a refugee camp in earthquake-hit Leigu Town of Beichuan County, Sichuan province May 29, ...

More pictures | Galleries

Last updated:Thu May 29 18:34:32 2008

Background

Topics

Emergencies

NGO latest

Latest news

Related articles

Country information