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| Bushman children, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© 2004 Stephen Corry/Survival |
Botswana's President Mogae told a UK audience yesterday that he would
not allow the Gana and Gwi Bushmen to return to their homes in the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve. 'I cannot allow them to go back,' he
said, prejudging the Bushmen's court case currently in progress.
President Mogae also claimed that the Bushmen are allowed to hunt
inside the reserve, as long as they do not use guns. In fact, Mr
Mogae's government banned all hunting and gathering in the reserve
following the eviction of the Bushmen in 2002. Bushmen attempting to
hunt now face arrest and heavy fines.
The President gave a lecture at Sussex University on 'Botswana's
experience of development.' After the lecture, he was asked about the
Bushmen. 'Development' for the Bushmen, said the questioner, had meant
'relocation from their ancestral land, being taken to eviction centres
that they consider places of death, alcoholism, and dependence on state
handouts.'
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'It's the president's
choice. If Mr Mogae won't let those Bushmen who so wish to go home,
then the country's reputation will continue sliding into the dirt. The
international community is not going to forget this or let it go. The
president repeatedly claims his government is allowing the Bushmen to
hunt in the reserve, which is just not true. The upstanding and
law-abiding citizens of Botswana might take note of how their country's
reputation, so carefully built over such a long time, is now
collapsing. It could so easily be salvaged: just let Bushmen who want
to return, do so, and hunt and gather unhindered. It would cost
nothing.'
Photos and footage available. For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20
7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
