Botswana's slow asylum system criticised
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday March 27, 2023 06:00
According to the Botswana Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2022 complied by the United States Department of State, the Botswana government generally cooperates with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organisations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers and other people of concern. “The system for granting refugee status was accessible but slow. The government generally provided protection against the expulsion or return of persons to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,” reads the report. The report further states that asylum seekers are held at the FCII detention facility until the Refugee Advisory Committee, a government body, makes a refugee status determination. The committee meets quarterly, and UNHCR representatives participate as observers and technical advisers.
Additionally, the government applies the principle of first country of asylum. This means that in previous years, it detained individuals who had refugee status in a third country and then claimed asylum. Regarding freedom of movement, the report reveals that as a general policy, all registered refugees must reside in Dukwi Refugee Camp under a strict encampment policy. “The government may issue a residence permit to remain outside the camp in exceptional cases, such as for refugees enrolled at a university, in need of specialised medical care, or with unique skills. In August 2022, UNHCR reported that most of the country’s 841 registered refugees were living in the Dukwi Refugee Camp and did not have the right to work outside the camp,” states the report.
Refugees at the Dukwi Refugee Camp have access to education and basic healthcare services. Officials typically grant exit permits for medical referrals for three days, and refugees found outside the camp without a permit are subject to arrest. Asylum seekers with children are transferred from FCII to the Dukwi Refugee Camp. “International observers expressed concern that young children were sometimes separated from their parents in the FCII facility while their cases were processed. In one case, this included a family with eight minor children. International observers stated there was no access to education in the FCII, which, during the year, held more than 200 children younger than age 18. The centre hosted a clinic, and a specialised nurse provided basic health care, while critical cases were referred to the Francistown city public hospital,” it was stated in the report. The government has reportedly considered the FCII to be a less than ideal transit centre for asylum seekers. However, there are reports of asylum seekers spending several years detained in the FCII while awaiting review of their cases. “Although the government moved remaining long-term asylum seekers to the nearby Dukwi Refugee Camp in 2019, it did not establish a protocol to prevent new arrivals from spending long periods in FCII while their cases were processed. International refugee groups reported that an average of 50 to 60 persons were held in the FCII at any given time while awaiting refugee processing,” the Americans noted.
The report acknowledges that the government provides temporary protection at the Dukwi Refugee Camp to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. UNHCR provides food and other provisions to individuals under temporary protection.