Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) – Sexual violence, horrific living conditions, harassment by police, racist attacks, and lack of access to basic health care, are part of the reality that thousands of vulnerable people confront every day. This is the complaint filed by the NGO Doctors Without Borders, deeply concerned about the health and living conditions in which pay thousands of immigrants and refugees in South Africa. The organization provides free medical care and provides assistance to migrants and refugees in Johannesburg and in the border town of Musina, which lies on the border with Zimbabwe. In Musina, since the beginning of the year, there has been a worrying increase in the number of rapes and robberies by armed groups operating on both sides of the border, against migrants that cross it.
There were 103 cases of sexual assault treated in the first four months of the year, 71 from March to today. In providing assistance to an average of 2,300 patients per month in the clinic in Johannesburg, the NGO has found a number of diseases related to overcrowding of living spaces and extremely precarious living conditions. While some immigrants find refuge in a Methodist church in the city's center, thousands continue to live in abandoned buildings in other areas of Johannesburg, often without electricity, water and gas, with a real risk of contracting illnesses such as respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin infections. Violence by gangs operating on the border and uncertainty on their documents once they enter the country, are part of daily life for these people. Without access to basic medical care and without a decent reception system, the lives of thousands of migrants in South Africa remains extremely precarious and uncertain. MFS (DWB) has also been working in South Africa since 1999 in Musina, Johannesburg, and Khayelitsha near Cape Town, in a project aimed at patients with HIV/AIDS. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/28/2010)
