Rights groups protest against relocation of Khoisan

Human rights activists in Botswana are protesting against the termination of basic services to the remaining Basarwa (Khoisan) in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), to force them into a relocation camp hundreds of kilometres away.

The Botswana government said last week that it would cut off water and other basic social services from 31 January, saying that it was too expensive to continue providing them for the remaining 600-700 Basarwa.

"The termination of services by the government effectively forces people out of the reserve, as they will have no access to basic resources," the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo, said in a press release.

It added that the government's was "wrongful and unlawful" and that "it was a deliberate attempt by the government to force the residents out of the reserve".

Ditshwanelo said the decision to stop the services would affect the provision of food rations, the transport of children to and from schools and the provision of health services.

"It is further reported that the government has threatened to remove the pump and the engine from the borehole at Mothomelo, a settlement centrally located inside the CKGR, as well as dismantle the 10,000 litre water tanks located in each settlement," Ditshwanelo noted.

"... the relocation of the residents ... is unnecessary and it is in breach of the constitution and human rights of the residents," the centre said.

According to Ditshwanelo, the reserve was created in 1961 "specifically" for the Basarwa to practice their hunter-gatherer way of life. Recently the Botswana department of wildlife and national parks said that it would no longer issue hunting permits to the Basarwa for use within the reserve.

Ditshwanelo is part of a team, which includes representatives of the residents in the reserve, currently negotiating with the government over the fate of the Basarwa.