Botswana's Bushmen thrown off their land

[dArKeR]

Thousands of Gana and Gwi Bushmen have been forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana, reports The Ecologist.

In a special focus on the Bushmen's plight, the September edition of The Ecologist reveals that since 1997, the government of Botswana has been uprooting the Bushmen from their ancestral lands and moving them to resettlement camps.

In June the Mail & Guardian Online reported on at least 10 of the Bushmen who were charged with entering a game reserve without a permit. President of Botswana Festus Mogae then stated that the reserve was "for animals, not people". The Central Kalahari reserve was established in the 1960s to protect the Bushmen's land from encroachment.

Reasons given for the evictions have included the Bushmen's "development", and conservation of the area. In fact, the exact opposite is taking place. An exploration boom aimed at securing lucrative profits from the exploitation of future diamond mines on the reserve is well under way and there has been a huge increase in diamond concessions in the reserve since the Bushmen evictions.

De Beers...

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=19320

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/index.html