Homeless moved to rural areas

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Harare - More than 100 families made homeless by a police raid on shacks were moved on Tuesday from a government holding camp in Harare to rural areas, state television reported.

The families were the first to be moved out of Caledonia Transit Camp, a farm on the outskirts of Harare where more than 4 000 people are reported to be living in tents.

They were ferried on the back of open lorries to areas in central and northern Zimbabwe, the television said.

Police launched a wave of shack demolitions, dubbed Operation Restore Order, on May 19. Human rights groups say it has left at least 300 000 people without shelter.

President Robert Mugabe says the operation aims to restore "dignity" to Zimbabweans. But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it is meant to punish its supporters and banish them to rural areas where they will be easier to control.

"The number of people volunteering to go away is not really large," the superintendent of the camp, Wilfred Moyo, told the television.

"Some (put) forward the reason that they can't relocate because they have never been to the communal areas," he added, referring to the farming areas where most Zimbabweans live.

An envoy of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is currently in Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian impact of the police operation, which has been condemned by many Western countries, human rights groups and churches.

The envoy, Anna Tibaijuka, is due to meet Mugabe on Wednesday, state television said.

Zimbabwe's Information Minister Tichaona Jokonya said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted Tibaijuka to do a "dirty job" on Zimbabwe when assessing the situation.

Last week, British Foreign Jack Straw said the police operation in Zimbabwe was of "serious international concern". The United States and Australia expressed similar concerns. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA