From incredulity to absolute horror - that best describes our reaction to the manner in which the government has so far handled the issue of displaced victims of xenophobia.

From incredulity to absolute horror - that best describes our reaction to the manner in which the government has so far handled the issue of displaced victims of xenophobia.

How will these people ever be able to forget their inhumane treatment at the hands of fellow Africans on their own continent?

We might well ask how the government's haughty attitude differs from the actions of the communities that forced these refugees out.

Prompting the question is the government's decision to wash its hands of the welfare of refugees with legal papers and insisting that they reintegrate with their hostile neighbours on their own.

This, coming from the same government that committed itself to overseeing the reintegration process once the dust had settled.

Without laying the groundwork for safe reintegration we are not sure how the Home Affairs Department hopes to achieve this.

There is much sense and moral weight in the court application by the Treatment Action Campaign and other stakeholders to force the government to delay closing temporary shelters for displaced immigrants until a reintegration strategy is in place.

We hope the court upholds the application since there is at present no humane alternative to ease the plight of the refugees.