Botswana: Bushmen Hold Out in Appeal for Help

Botswana: Bushmen Holding Out in Reserve Appeal for Help

The last group of Bushmen still holding out inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve have smuggled out an appeal for help.

In the letter the Bushmen, thought to be around 30-strong, reveal that they are being continually 'harassed and threatened by wildlife officials and scouts' to 'pressure us to leave our homes'.

The Bushmen go on to say that, 'guards Š come every three weeks and threaten to kill us if we do not leave and move to their resettlement camps, which they built in order to force us out of the reserve, our home.'

The wildlife guards have been camping near the Bushman settlements to prevent the people from hunting or gathering. Government officials have previously destroyed the Bushmen's water supply and arrested other Bushmen trying to bring food in to their relatives inside the reserve.

'Now we are not allowed to hunt and gather food, which we do in order to live. They have prevented us from doing this, therefore how can we survive?'

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