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100,000 SIGN UP FOR BUSHMEN
11 February 2003
In a global show of solidarity
with the Bushmen of Botswana, 100,000 people around the world have signed a
petition calling for them to be allowed to live on their own lands in peace.
The petition is being handed in
this week to Botswana embassies in 11 countries: South Africa, Japan, USA,
Germany, Spain, Zimbabwe, UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Kenya. In Kenya
the petition was delivered by members of the Ogiek tribe, another persecuted
hunter-gatherer people, in a show of trans-African solidarity.
The hand-in marks the first
anniversary of the government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from
their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana. The Bushmen's water
supply was destroyed, their homes were dismantled and they were trucked out to
resettlement camps. It was the culmination of a 15-year campaign of
persecution.
The Bushmen are now forced to
apply for permits if they want to visit their land, in an impossibly
bureaucratic procedure. Around 100 Bushmen have managed to re-establish their
former homes in the Reserve, but are regularly harassed by officials.
In a passionate appeal, one
Bushman woman recently told Survival, 'Look at our situation, take away our
words for your campaign. Rescue us from the situation we are in right now...to
make us free to go back to our original land.'
Survival http://www.survival-international.org
is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. It stands for their
right to decide their own future and helps them protect their lives, lands and
human rights. Survival's general email: info@survival-international.org
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