An in-depth Study on the impacts of Operation Murambatsvina HIV/AIDS Again our findings extend and amplify previous findings. As our findings show, those suffering from HIV/AIDS have lost access to quality care, medical treatment, medications, nutritional support, and many have no support at all. The HIV/AIDS group was also much more likely to be suffering from a clinically significant psychological disorder. All of this was avoidable with proper planning by the Government of Zimbabwe, but no provision has been made at all, and, worse than this, there are many reports indicating that the authorities are even obstructive to attempts to assist. This is wholly unacceptable. We wish here to make two points. Firstly, that people’s lives are at risk is not acceptable, and it is clear that those suffering from HIV/AIDS have been placed now in a situation of multiple risks. This requires an emergency response from local and international groups, irrespective of whether the Zimbabwe Government accepts this or not. Secondly, there must be serious concern for the effects in the long-term on morbidity due to HIV/AIDS. The risk of treatment-resistant HIV must now be seen as highly probable, and transmission a reality given the hazardous behaviours now reported in this group. The irresponsibility of a government taking such risks with public health in a situation of a massive epidemic beggars belief. Legal issues Our data do not support in any way the claims of the Zimbabwe Government that they were dealing with criminals or illegal dwellers. Rather our data suggest that these were substantial people, living with the acknowledgement and acceptance of the authorities, and conducting their livelihoods within the highly adverse economic climate of current Zimbabwe. These were not shanty-town dwellers, but people whose rights have been trampled upon. The prima facie evidence suggests that their rights, both personal and material, have been trampled upon, and who deserve redress and compensation. Losses The losses experienced by those affected under Operation Murambatsvina are clearly not trivial, but it is also very difficult to be clear about the overall extent of the losses. On our data, there have been substantial losses incurred, and these will clearly affect peoples’ ability to take care of themselves and their families, with the most severe consequences being for those groups seen as particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, those who have experienced losses may well lose the right to claims for damages. Overall, this survey has extended our previous understanding about the effects of Operation Murambatsvina, and can only increase concerns for the welfare of those affected. Our findings indicate the multiple ways in which people have been adversely affected, and, if Zimbabwe was not a complex emergency prior to 18 May 2005, the Zimbabwe Government’s callous implementation of Operation Murambatsvina has now made a complex emergency a categorical fact. Our findings indicate that ordinary people are now suffering serious psychological disorder as a consequence of their treatment, and that this will seriously impede their ability to cope with the adversity that now they must face. ix