Bushmen holding out in reserve appeal for help

22 June 2006

Bushman woman, CKGR, Botswana 2004
Bushman woman, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© Stephen Corry/Survival

The last group of Bushmen still holding out inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve have smuggled out an appeal for help.

In the letter the Bushmen, thought to be around 30-strong, reveal that
they are being continually ‘harassed and threatened by wildlife
officials and scouts' to ‘pressure us to leave our homes'.

The Bushmen go on to say that, ‘guards …  come every three weeks
and threaten to kill us if we do not leave and move to their
resettlement camps, which they built in order to force us out of the
reserve, our home.'

The wildlife guards have been camping near the Bushman settlements to
prevent the people from hunting or gathering. Government officials have
previously destroyed the Bushmen's water supply and arrested other
Bushmen trying to bring food in to their relatives inside the reserve.

‘Now we are not allowed to hunt and gather food, which we do in order
to live. They have prevented us from doing this, therefore how can we
survive?'

To read the letter click here

For further information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0) 207 687 8734 or email: mr@survival-international.org


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