General impact of the campaign Whatever the reasons behind it, it is clear that the campaign has created a huge humanitarian disaster causing enormous hardship and suffering. Within the space of a few weeks, Operation Murambatsvina has produced a massive internal refugee population. It has devastated the businesses of large numbers of people who were eking 22 out a living in the informal sector. The destruction of structures that housed thousands of people was done without providing any alternate accommodation whatsoever, apart from forcing some to go to transit camps in which the conditions were appalling. It is not known exactly how many people have been rendered homeless as a result, but, two weeks ago, Miloon Kothari, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, talked about a figure of 200 000 people having been left without accommodation. The most recent reliable estimate is that 64,677 families have been displaced, representing a total of 323,385 persons in need of emergency relief and resettlement . This is clearly 23 conservative, and the ongoing operation has resulted in many more people being left without shelter. Some estimates put the number of people now displaced at well over a million. It has been alleged that two small children have been killed as a result of the demolition of residential structures. One was said to have died when a wall that had been weakened by the breaking down of the structure collapsed on top of her child and one is alleged to have died when a wall being bulldozed collapsed on top of the child. There are 24 also allegations that some people have died of exposure after having to sleep outside in freezing cold conditions after their houses were destroyed. Large numbers of people evicted from their urban homes are camped beside major roads, unable to return to the places where they had been living . Many of the people affected had nowhere else to go, and were forced to sleep 25 out in the open, and some have been camping out for several weeks. It is now winter in Zimbabwe, and the nights are extremely cold: camping out without shelter creates the risk of people dying of exposure, particularly children, the sick and the elderly. Those with relatives in rural areas, and who had the money to travel to these places, were often unable to find transport to travel to these places with whatever possessions they had managed to rescue from their dwellings. This was because transport was at a premium due to an ongoing dire petrol shortage. Many people were simply unable to afford the expensive fares to travel to the rural areas. Many family members who have been displaced by Operation Murambatsvina have had to move in with relatives who have not themselves been displaced. Many people were accommodating their relatives in outbuildings. When these outbuildings were in turn destroyed they had to move their relatives into their main houses, although many of these were already overcrowded. This has led to overcrowding in accommodation, increasing the strain on already overstretched families. The dislocation of numerous families has meant that many children of these families are no longer attending school. Many parents have had to send their children to live with relatives elsewhere. Entire families have had to relocate and there are no places available in schools in the areas where the children are now located. Many parents who were earning a living by vending now do not have the money to pay school fees. Many children are simply sleeping out in