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| Bushman boys, Namibia
© Mark Håkansson/Survival |
In a major blow to the Botswana government's claims that it evicted the Gana and Gwi Bushmen
in order to develop' them, the US State Department has condemned the
Bushman eviction sites as being threatened by the lack of employment
opportunities and rampant alcohol abuse.'
In its recently released annual report on human rights, the State
Department says the Botswana government forced [the Bushmen] to
abandon their ancestral communities in the CKGR.' It reports that the
Bushmen continued to struggle' in the eviction sites where game was
scarce', and that many had moved back to the CKGR. It notes that
Bushman groups have called for the Government to recognize their land
use system and to grant them land rights.'
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, Fewer and fewer people
inside or outside Botswana are fooled by the government's claims that
the relocations were voluntary or that the evictions sites constitute
development'. It would be so easy to halt the increasing barrage of
international criticism on this issue and salvage Botswana's
reputation: the government should just let the Bushmen go home.'
To read the full text of the report's section on Botswana, visit http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41589.htm
Photos and footage available. For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
