1. Wide of people gathered inside tent, including American actor Matt Damon, with banner on side of tent reading (English): "Pre registration Zimbabwe"

2. Mid of Damon (second on left) listening to Zimbabwean woman recount ordeal

3. Close of Damon listening to woman, pan right to woman speaking

4. Wide of Zimbabwean refugees gathered outside tent

5. Mid of Damon inside tent listening to Zimbabwean woman

6. Officials sitting on ground inside tent listening to woman

7. Damon signing autograph for woman and thanking people

8. Wide of Damon walking with aid workers

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Matt Damon, US Actor:

"Obviously, it's a big problem and it's not going away any time soon. I spoke with so many people who went through so much just to get to this point, and I guess it's a testament to the state of affairs across the border in Zimbabwe because one woman who was a rape victim told me she'd been raped quite recently and she said 'I have nothing to complain about' because she received her asylum papers and was going to be allowed to stay in South Africa."

10. Close of Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders logo on tent

11. Doctor giving health check to man

12. Various of Damon listening to aid worker

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Matt Damon, US Actor:

"For us, it's to try to draw people's attention to this because certainly, back home in the US, you know, the economy is about to fold, you know, in every newspaper, and it's what people are really panicking about and worrying about and people have a whole set of their own problems, so it's hard to even get attention for something like this because it seems to them to be some very far flung problem and 'I've got my own problems right now', but it desperately needs addressing and it's got continually worse and it's going to get continually worse so, the sooner we take action the less work we're all going to have to do to fix it."

14. Wide of Damon walking into building, with Zimbabwean refugees sitting on chairs outside

American actor Matt Damon visited refugee centres in Musina in South Africa, just across the border with Zimbabwe, on Tuesday as part of his work with the human rights organisation he started with a number of other celebrities.

An emotional Damon listened to a Zimbabwean woman describe how she was raped while pregnant after a perilous journey across the border into South Africa.

Musina is battling to cope with an influx of Zimbabweans fleeing the economic collapse and dire humanitarian conditions in their country.

An estimated three (m) million Zimbabweans live in South Africa with as many as six-thousand crossing the border daily, according to some estimates.

Damon founded the human rights organisation Not On Our Watch with other celebrities including fellow American actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

The organisation has drawn attention to the crisis in Darfur and assisted with humanitarian aid in Haiti and Myanmar.

Damon is hoping to use his celebrity profile to raise awareness about Zimbabwe, while he is in South Africa making a film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, the country's anti-apartheid hero who became the first black president.

"I have spoken to so many people who went through so much to get to this point," Damon said.

Many Zimbabweans making the perilous journey across the border are forced to cross the crocodile-infested Limpopo River and enter through holes in the poorly patrolled border fence, often paying exorbitant fees to unscrupulous guides.

Aid agencies are concerned about an increase in the number of unaccompanied children making the crossing and incidents of sexual violence against women.

The Uniting Reform Church, where a number of woman have found shelter, is one of the local organisations offering assistance to Zimbabweans that Damon visited.

The Hollywood actor also spent some time at the Musina Showgrounds where United Nations and South African government officials have set up a reception centre to process asylum seekers.

About five-thousand Zimbabweans are camped out in the sandy patch of land, strewn with rubbish and personal belongings.

Some have erected makeshift structures out of plastic, while others sleep on pieces of cardboard. There are about a dozen toilets and only a few taps.

UN officials say numbers of asylum seekers are increasing and that 250 applications are processed everyday.

Damon, who patiently listened to heart-wrenching stories in the scorching heat, said the situation in Musina "desperately needs addressing," and called on international and regional leaders to take action.

A new unity government in Zimbabwe is hoping for about two (b) billion US dollars in aid to help rebuild the country.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, formed a coalition government two weeks ago with longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai after months of political deadlock kept leaders from addressing the world's highest inflation rate, a widespread hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has made more than 80-thousand people ill, and killed more than 3,800 since August.