Thorns among roses at Dukwi refugee camp
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday May 8, 2015 10:53
A refugee is someone who is outside their home country because they have suffered (or feared) persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion; because they are a member of a persecuted social category of persons; or because they are fleeing a war, according to Wikipedia.
Said the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon about the Refugee Day: “Most of the world’s refugees - 86 per cent -- live in the developing world, compared to 70 per cent 10 years ago. Most of these countries have kept their doors open to people in search of safety, and have shown a generosity that is often well beyond their means.
“I appeal to all Member States and our partners in civil society to do their utmost to support the nations and communities that have welcomed the forcibly displaced into their midst”.
While Ban has said that most countries have been generous to the refugees, some refugees here have abused that generosity.
On March 20, principal magistrate Dumisani Basupi sentenced a political refugee from Zimbabwe to 10 years in jail for raping a fellow refugee from Burundi at Dukwi Refugee Camp in January 2012.
The perpetrator, Jacob Gumiro, was a teacher at Skillshare International School within the camp while the complainant is a cleaner at the school.
On April 10, Basupi sentenced Buidamo Tekiso, a refugee from Namibia, Matthew Masuku and Joel Kupe from Zimbabwe to two years in jail wholly suspended for two years on condition that they shall not commit any offence within that period.
The two were found guilty of assisting a local Kebalepile Malikinya to steal diesel that was going to be used against him (Malikinya) in a theft case.
The quartet destroyed the diesel at some thickets on the outskirts of Dukwi.
The diesel was stored at Dukwi police station in Malikinya’s car that was impounded by the police.
In another case on March 6, Basupi sentenced a Zimbabwe refugee, Tshepang Moyo, to two years in prison for unlawfully being in possession of dagga at Dukwi refugee camp last year in August.
He was given an option of paying P3,000 in order to escape jail but he told the court that he did not manage to raise the money.
On February 7, 2013, magistrate Faith Masie-Moyo sentenced a Namibian refugee, Chrispen Mathanyane, to three-and-a-half years in jail for breaking into a house at the camp on October 2010. He was additionally given stokes.
The magistrate reduced the sentence by one and half years on condition that he did not commit any offence within three years.
Mathanyane was also sentenced to two and half years in jail from stealing from the same dwelling house on October 2010.
The sentence was reduced by one and half years on condition that he does not commit any offence within three years. The sentences were to run concurrently.
The Director at the Ministry of Justice, Defence and Security (MJDS) Ross Sanoto told Mmegi that refugees attend an orientation session were they are told about the repercussions of committing crimes in Botswana.
He said that the minister of Justice, Defence and Security is empowered by law to cancel the refugee status of anyone who has committed an offence that attracts six months or more in jail.
“We then repatriate them to their home countries,” said Sanoto. He said the preparations for the day, to be commemorated at Dukwi on June 19, are on going.
During a meeting addressed by minister Shaw Kgathi in February at Dukwi Kgotla, residents decried that some refugees were acting in cohorts to commit criminal activities in the village.
The residents called for those found guilty to be deported to their countries because they had abused their stay in Botswana. Some even suggested that the camp be relocated far away from the village so that locals do not mix with refugees as most may be members of terror groups in their home countries