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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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