South Africa's high court has ruled that camps housing foreigners displaced by xenophobic violence can be shut down

The judge said the authorities had no obligation to reintegrate more than 4,000 African immigrants living in the camps around Johannesburg. The government plans to close the shelters in Gauteng province. Human rights groups had applied to stop the closure, saying it would violate the rights of the displaced. The authorities argue it is now safe for the foreigners to return to their homes. Tens of thousands of immigrants were displaced by the violence, in which 60 people were killed. Many returned to their home countries, some have returned to South African townships – but approximately 4,000 of them are still in the safe havens in Gauteng. The riots began in a township north of Johannesburg before spreading to other parts of the country. It was the worst bloodshed in the county since the end of apartheid in 1994. Those attacked in May were blamed for fuelling high unemployment and crime. Twenty-one South Africans, mistaken by gangs for foreigners, were among those killed.