Open letter to Mr. President
| Monday April 14, 2014 13:56
That there are foreigners from African countries especially from West Africa residing here is not first in its kind. This is the case everywhere in the world. Life is a constant adventure in possibilities and we cannot be exempted from the dire stakes life has to offer. Hence there are Americans, British, French, Germans, Japanese - the so called industrialised nations, residing in most African countries, the third world, developing countries. It is interesting and of course shocking to see the French Community in poor countries such as the Republic of Niger/ Chad. Some French nationals have made some countries in Africa as their first home. It is therefore not surprising to see many in Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Mali--the developing nations.
As few as we are, there are some Batswana living and working outside. There are some in New Zealand, USA, South Africa, and Zambia. Recently, we read in one of the dailies that there is a Motswana woman living and doing marvelous business in Nigeria. No wonder, foreigners, from advanced countries are living in volatile regions such as Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Iraq,Yemen,Pakistan etc. where life is at risk. Yet, they are there.
Your Excellency, the point we are making is that people must migrate from one country to another, no matter how beautiful, industrialised and developed their country might be. So long as they are living within the armpit of the law. Whosoever transgresses against the law of the land should face the full weight of the law.
Your Excellency, when you created the DIS (Directorate of Intelligence Service), the decision was hailed, as no country exists without a unit of this nature, considering the situation worldwide, where terrorism is the order of the day.
Little did we know that DIS will be an extension of Department of Immigration deciding on who should remain in the country whether the person has committed an offence or not. It is now an instrument of fear more than of intelligence collection on the security of the nation. Unfortunately, they are only targeting certain nationals from a particular region/ country. Last year, a certain national was deported from Palapye, after spending 17 years and married to a Motswana with children. They (DIS) cooked up a crime of child trafficking against him. The only reason being that this young man was doing very well in his business that people became envious and jealous of him, and decided to go through the DIS.The young man was deported and we are happy that we did it.
We should remember that there are three levels of judgment: Judgment by Man, Judgment by posterity and Judgment by GOD.
Since last year, many of these nationals especially from an African country are being refused “renewal of their residence permits”. Even if one or two might be bad or have committed crime, it is not enough to generalise that all of them are bad. After all, fingers are not equal and can never be equal. All applications from the Immigration department to DIS, involving these nationals – fellow black Africans, come back with”applicant not approved/ granted “and even when the applicant appeals, he/she is told that it is from DIS. One then wonders whether this is the government order. Painful as it may be, some of these people have spent 10 – 15 years in the country, without committing any offence.
Some two years ago, some people were ordered to close their businesses along the road from Pula Spar to Mogoditsane on the grounds that it is not a commercial designated area. For committing this simple offence, some of our African brothers were deported. Today pass through this same road, it is littered with businesses. This hatred should not be part of our life.
Your Excellency, you will agree that by nature, it is not easy for one to leave a place he/she has been living for over 10 years to relocate to another place unplanned. Refusing to renew these nationals permits is borne out of hatred, envy and jealousy by the authorities concerned. It is giving a dog a bad name, in order to hang it. We still believe that whosoever among them commits any crime should face the wrath of the law including deportation but the present scenario is nothing but just hatred. No American, German, British, etc has been denied renewal of their permits in this country.
It is now an open secret that many Nigerians are being shown the door through the non renewal of their permits, yet many of these people have lived for a decade in the country without committing any offence/crime.
Although, it is our prerogative as a country, to decide on who should live in the country, it is essential that we do that with a human face. Most of these people have their own families and their children were born here.
Are we saying that these people are the cause of the problems be they economic, social, or the cause of the rise in crime or are they posing any security threat to us?. Or that we prefer other nationals to our fellow Africans.
Your Excellency, as the father of the nation, we implore you not to allow this animosity in our country, because unease lies the head that wears the crown. We hope the immigration and DIS will treat every applicant /application on its merit, doing away with hatred towards these nationals.
The Concerned: Group of People Living In Botswana
grouplivingbotswana@gmail.com