Botswana: Bushmen To Return Home On Friday

Botswana: Bushmen To Return Home On Friday

A group of Kalahari Bushmen will return to their land on Friday, following their historic court victory on 13 December.

A number of Bushman families living in New Xade resettlement camp have announced that they will return to the communities of Metsiamenong and Molapo in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

'We have waited for this moment for so many years, and now we are finally going home!' says one of the group. 'I will build some huts for my family, and teach my young children how to find food. My heart is full of joy, knowing that soon I will see my land again.'

Park guards mistakenly refused entry to a group of Bushmen attempting to return home at the end of 2006.

Botswana's High Court ruled in December that the Botswana government's eviction of the Bushmen was 'unlawful and unconstitutional', and that they have the right to live on their ancestral land inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The court also ruled that the Bushmen have the right to hunt and gather in the reserve, and should not have to apply for permits to enter it.

-ENDS-

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