Is Botswana unfriendly to asylum seekers :: Mmegi Online

Following what is suspected to have transpired at Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants (FCII) where around 300 rejected asylum seekers were alleged to have suffered abuse at the hands of prison officers, can one say Botswana is unfriendly to asylum seekers. This is the question that human rights activists are asking themselves Mmegi Staff Writer PINI BOTHOKO writes

It is alleged that rejected asylum seekers, mostly from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who spent months at FCII suffered abuses such as assault, sexual assault to mention but a few. Following the alleged abuse they suffered before their relocation to Dukwi Refugee Camp and when informed that they were to be relocated back to FCII, it is an open secret that they fled the country in fear of their lives.

Even though the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security is adamant that the rejected asylum seekers were not pushed out of the country and have never suffered any abuse at FCII, one could wonder why they decided to flee the country. Under normal circumstances no one can flee where they receive the best treatment. Something is not adding up here. Over the years there have been battles involving the government and refugees something that one can confidently say government’s hostility towards refugees is not a new thing.

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