THE United Nations High Commis­sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has given no time frame for the reinte-gration of displaced Zimbabwean farm workers in De Dooms.

It said that efforts were being put in place to ensure reintegration but it depended on whether locals want­ed them back.

Monique Ekoko, UNHCR senior protection officer, said National Reconciliation Day on December 16 would be used to promote reintegra­tion.

"We need to keep working," she said, adding that the SA Human Rights Commission and the SA Council of Churches held a prayer meeting last Sunday with the refu­gees and some locals in an effort to ensure the safe return of the Zimba­bweans to local communities.

The majority of camp residents told City Press that they were wor­ried because authorities on site were cutting down on services to force them to reintegrate.

They claimed that the Red Cross had stopped the supply of hot meals last week, the mobile clinic had been removed and the number of toilets was being cut down.

They said authorities were now giving them food hampers consist­ing of lkg of sugar, lkg of rice and 500g of beans with some other items.

They said each hamper, handed out every week, had to be shared among four residents.

Richard Haridien, assistant di­rector of social relief of distress from the Department of Social De­velopment, denied that services were being reduced.

"It's not true. However, there is a difference in food provision," he said, claiming that the residents had complained about the food provided by the Red Cross.

He also conceded the problem with toilets, saying the "contract for the toilets ran out on Monday".

He did not say whether the con­tract was going to be renewed, but added that the government had spent more than R500 000 on food provision through the Red Cross.

"We don't know what is going to happen to us here. The future is not certain," said a father of one in the camp on Wednesday night. "People fear being moved out, away from their jobs. "What is happening is meant to force us out," added another.

Meanwhile, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has threatened the UNHCR with an urgent court appli­cation after a group of Zimbabwean refugees were allegedly denied en­try to a safety site in De Dooms.

On Tuesday, acting on behalf of eight of the refugees, the LRC gave the regional UNHCR a day to con­firm receipt of the letter and to allow the refugees into the camp. It said failure to do so would amount to an urgent application in court being launched without further notice.

According to refugee rights group People Against Suffering, Suppres­sion, Oppression and Poverty (Pas-sop), nearly 30 displaced Zimbabwe­ans have been denied places in the camp since last Thursday.

Passop said some of the refugees had managed to "sneak" their way back into the camp while others were still being housed by sympa­thetic farmers.

The LRC wrote a letter to the UN­HCR on behalf of the refugees de­manding that they be accepted into the camp.

The LRC argued that the refugees had been living in the informal set­tlement of Stofland in De Dooms at the time of the attacks and their houses had been destroyed in the process.

None of them was present, howev­er, as they were working in Malmes­bury on short-term contracts, said the LRC.

Ekoko confirmed receiving the letter on Thursday.

FRANCIS HWESHE