Thousands of Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa have been left stranded, following the Department of Home Affairs decision to shut a densely populated refugee camp in the border town Musina.

Officials this week announced the mobile 'Refugee Reception Office,' based at the Musina showgrounds, is to be closed and relocated to a military base on Friday. But on Wednesday the estimated 4000 refugees sheltering at the showgrounds were told to leave the area, with Home Affairs officials reportedly ordering that all shelters be broken down and burnt. Despite local reports suggesting that alternative accommodation arrangements had been made for the stranded refugees, aid groups said no such arrangements have been made.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders, explained on Thursday that officials within the Home Affairs department have requested that NGOs and other aid groups working in the area shoulder the responsibility of housing the thousands of refugees. But the head of the mission in South Africa, Rachel Cohen, told SW Radio Africa that only an estimated 700 refugees are left to provide shelter for, saying that the rest have fled in fear of being deported.

"Patients at our mobile clinic at the showground informed us that many people fled Musina yesterday morning, fearing they would be arrested or deported if they stayed," Cohen said. "Our medical teams know from experience that the threat of deportation serves only to force Zimbabweans into hiding."

An estimated three million Zimbabweans are believed to be living in South Africa, with thousands crossing the border every night. In Musina alone, more than 200 new asylum applications have been processed per day, but Cohen explained that thousands of refugees are now at risk of deportation.

"Although the showground didn't meet the standards for humanitarian assistance it was the only place in Musina where undocumented Zimbabweans, awaiting their papers, were safe from arrest or deportation," Cohen explained.

The charity described in a statement the cruel nature with which authorities have already shut down the Musina refugee camp explaining that families were not even allowed to stay together. On Tuesday morning authorities started dividing the refugees into different groups, according to their legal status, gender, and age. Women with children, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors were removed from a special location that had been established for them at the showground, despite having nowhere else to go.

The decision by the South African authorities has been labeled as 'ill-conceived' and the medical charity has called for the immediate halt to any Zimbabwean deportations. The group has called on the government to provide immediate, adequate humanitarian assistance - including some form of legal status - for Zimbabweans seeking refuge in the country.