AIDS campaigners and human rights groups have accused the Cambodian Government of herding HIV-affected families into an ‘‘AIDS colony’’ outside the capital, Phnom Penh.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and the Health Minister, Mam Bun Heng, more than 100 international and domestic groups said they were deeply disturbed by the ‘‘life-threatening’’ conditions at the settlement. Forty families were forced to live in sheds without running water or proper sanitation, they said.

The Government has spent the past two months moving people with HIV/AIDS from the Borei Keila district of Phnom Penh to Tuol Sambo, a flood-prone area 25 kilometres away.

‘‘By bundling people living with HIV together in second-rate housing, far from medical facilities, support services and jobs, the Government has created a de facto AIDS colony,’’ said Shiba Phurailatpam, of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Rebecca Schleifer, for Human Rights Watch, said conditions at Tuol Sambo posed serious risks: ‘‘People living with HIV have compromised immune systems and are especially vulnerable. For them, these substandard conditions can mean a death sentence or a ticket to a hospital.’’

Doctors Without Borders said conditions at Tuol Sambo did not meet minimum international standards.

Last year, according to UNAIDS, 67,200 adults and 3800 children in Cambodia were living with HIV/AIDS.

Guardian News & Media