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BOTSWANA PRESIDENT PERSONALLY GIVES BLANKETS TO
BUSHMEN AND TELLS THEM NOT TO GO HOME
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELEASE
23.06.2004
In a surprising move, last week the president of Botswana personally visited New Xade, one of the
government sites where the 'Bushmen' were taken after being expelled from their ancestral land.
Although it was only 3 weeks before the Bushmen take his government to court for the right to
return to their land, President Festus Mogae was accompanied by Sidney Pilane, the lawyer acting
for the government in the case.
Pre-judging the court's ruling, the president told the Bushmen that they should not try to
return to their land and also distributed handouts of food, clothing and blankets. He told
the Bushmen, 'I am your father and I have come to check up on my children.'
Stephen Corry, director of Survival, which is very well-known in Botswana for its support of
the Bushmen, said today, 'To pretend that this visit is not a blatant attempt to influence the
court case, and the British MPs ' trip, is just naïve. In other countries, a visit from the head
of state - and defendant - so close to the court hearing would not be allowed. The irony is that
the president's handouts actually reinforce the state of dependency the Bushmen have been reduced
to. These hunter- gatherers are no longer allowed to hunt and have been turned by the government
into beggars and prostitutes. So the president's actions are in fact entirely in keeping with his
prevailing attitude, that the Bushmen are to be stripped of their ability to lead lives outside
of government control. To call this 'development' is just a mockery. It's an appalling 21st century
echo of how indigenous peoples in North America were once robbed of their lands in exchange for a
few blankets.'
A Bushman who must remain anonymous said of the visit, ' This is just
bribery.'
A group of British MPs is due to visit New Xade at the end of June. They are: Nigel Jones, Dianne
Abbott, Tony Banks, Ashok Kumar, Alan Meale, Roger Godsiff, Jane Griffiths, Andrew
Hunter, John Horam, Paul Keetch.
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