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| Bushman women, Namibia
© Mark Håkansson/Survival |
Amnesty International in Chile has launched a campaign in support of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen,
adding to the growing list of international NGOs speaking out against
the Botswana government's eviction of the Bushmen from their land.
The people of the Kalahari need the support of the whole world,' reads
the campaign's webpage. The authorities have forced them to abandon
their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, have cut off their
water supply, forbidden them from hunting and gathering food, and are
forcing them to live in resettlement camps where desperation reigns.'
Amnesty urges its supporters to write to the Botswana government
demanding that they let the Bushmen go home.
Amnesty is the world's best-known independent human rights
organisation. It has over 1.8 million members in more than 150
countries and territories.
Aside from the campaign by Survival International, national and
international NGOs in Botswana, Namibia, Germany, Switzerland, South
Africa and France made statements last year condemning the eviction of
the Bushmen. This year, representatives of the Innu
people of eastern Canada wrote to the Botswana Gazette urging the
Botswana government not to make the same mistakes with the Bushmen that
the Canadian government made in moving the Innu off their land.
To read about Amnesty's campaign (in Spanish) click here
To read statements by other NGOs click here
To read the Innu letter click here
For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
