JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has decided to set up refugee camps for tens of thousands of African migrants who fled their homes during a wave of deadly xenophobic attacks, the BBC said on Wednesday.
President Thabo Mbeki's government is expected to announcethe decision to establish seven camps throughout the countryafter a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the broadcaster said in areport on its Web site.
At least 56 people died and up to 100,000 were displacedwhen mobs armed with clubs, knives and stones, rampaged throughshantytowns in Johannesburg, Cape Town and other parts of thecountry earlier this month.
The violence has subsided but there is mounting criticismof the government's response to the crisis, which has tarnishedthe country's image internationally and raised investorconcerns about political stability within its borders.
South Africa's Home Affairs Department denied that refugeecamps would be established.
"We are not setting up refugee camps ... it is shelter forthose who have been displaced," spokeswoman Siobhan McCarthytold the SAPA news agency. "Typically refugee centres are longterm, we are really looking for a solution for the short-term."
Relief agencies and U.N. officials say they are shocked atconditions in makeshift shelters where thousands ofZimbabweans, Mozambicans and other migrants now live. Many aresleeping outside in temperatures that drop to near freezing atnight.
The lion's share of blankets, tents, clothes and fooddistributed to the refugees have come from humanitarian andreligious groups and individual citizens. There are few signsof significant aid from government.
Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors WithoutBorders) and the Red Cross have described the government'sresponse as inadequate and say the situation is worsening inthe shelters, posing health risks to the refugees and communityat large.
Doctors and nurses report an array of respiratoryinfections, diarrhoea and other opportunistic diseases amongthe refugees. Many are traumatised emotionally and want toleave South Africa.
At least 50,000 Mozambicans and Zimbabweans have departedSouth Africa since the attacks began on May 11. Smaller numbershave gone back to Zambia and Malawi.
Zimbabweans are the largest immigrant group in SouthAfrica, accounting for an estimated 60 percent of the 5 millionmigrants here. South Africa's population is about 50 million.
(Reporting by Paul Simao; Editing by Jon Boyle)