JOHANNESBURG, August 8, 2008 (AFP) - Humanitarian body Doctors Without Borders Friday urged South Africa to provide 'viable options' for thousands of displaced foreigners whose camps are due to be closed next week.

Authorities have said that six camps in Gauteng province, which includes the economic capital Johannesburg, housing about 3,000 foreigners, are to be formally closed on August 15.

The remainder, housing 4,200 others, are due to be shut over the following weeks.

The Paris-based humanitarian group, known by its French initials MSF, 'calls on the South African government to uphold its obligation to protect refugees.

'The camps should not be closed without genuinely viable options being made available to the displaced. This requires communication and consultation,' it said in a statement.

Foreigners, notably nationals of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, were targeted in May during a wave of anti-immigrant attacks in which at least 62 people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced.

The foreigners were accused of crimes and stealing jobs from South Africans. 'MSF finds it unacceptable that people who were forced from their homes once again are left out in the cold, having to find solutions for themselves.

'Authorities have not communicated any plans for the reintegration of the displaced, nor has it properly engaged in a dialogue with the camp residents about options for their immediate future,' MSF said.

MSF said that it has been denied access to residents in camps, some of whom are suffering from stress-related conditions, including insomnia, anxiety, poor appetite and headaches.

Last month, some of the residents were taken from the camps to the Lindela repatriation centre, outside Johannesburg.

'It is imperative that they receive the protection and assistance afforded to them under national and international law,' MSF head of mission in South Africa Rachel Cohen said.