Govt defends expulsion of political asylum seekers

The Botswana government this week defended its decision to deport two Namibian asylum seekers to the eastern Caprivi region earlier this month, saying that they had forfeited their refugee status. According to news reports, until last week the authorities were denying that at least one of the refugees, Rodwell 'Fred' Katupisa Kauhano, had been deported from Botswana, where he spent six years in exile. Kauhano and the other refugee, identified only as 'Charles' were living in the Dukwe refugee camp in central Botswana. Tueloyanne Oliphant, the permanent secretary for political affairs in the Botswana president's office, confirmed only Kauhano's deportation and said the authorities had followed the correct procedures laid down in the UN convention on refugees. "Kauhano was a refugee in Botswana and had violated his conditions of stay by occasionally going back to his country of origin," Oliphant said. The convention compels countries to grant foreign nationals political asylum if they claim their lives are in danger and may face persecution in their native country. However, once a person voluntarily returns to his country of nationality, he forfeits his refugee status. Oliphant denied any knowledge of 'Charles', saying the only other Namibian refugee on record, who had been deported, was known as Cosmos Kachana Mabuku. "Mabuku was deported on 1 January 2005, after he indicated that he wanted to go back to his country," said Oliphant. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told IRIN this week that it had not been informed of Kauhano's deportation. UNHCR's Botswana representative, Benny Otim, said his office had only come to know about Kauhano's expulsion through the media. "We are currently awaiting clarification from the government, and there is nothing we can say until we get that," said Otim. According to the Namibia-based rights organisation, National Society for Human Rights, Kauhano and 'Charles' were granted political asylum in 1999, after being implicated in a plot to secede the Caprivi strip from Namibia. Several Caprivi residents are on trial in Namibia, facing charges of high treason for their alleged part in the disturbances that occurred in 1998/99. There are approximately 1,200 Namibian refugees from Caprivi in the Dukwe camp.