The refugee question
Mmegi Editor | Thursday June 15, 2017 11:53
Modey-Ebi noted that Botswana had quietly tightened its refugee and asylum protocols, resulting in high rejection rates, detention of asylum seekers and a strict encampment policy.
Asylum seekers arriving in Botswana are now being questioned why they did not seek the same status in the countries they transited through before arriving in Botswana, while certain refugees already in the country are being put under pressure to resettle.
Modey-Ebi, in the rest of her presentation, makes very valid points about Botswana’s historical role as a safe haven for Africans during the liberation struggle and the apartheid era.
Indeed, Botswana’s comparatively simpler independence process and rapid economic growth allowed her to accommodate and assist the struggles of many other African states over the decades, guiding many to their own freedoms.
As a signatory to binding United Nations covenants and in line with its own refugee laws, Botswana is presently home to well over 2,000 refugees from countries such as the DRC, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi.
Unfortunately, the support Botswana has been providing to the continent’s refugees is finite. Firstly, as a country, it has numerous competing needs for its declining revenues and secondly, the support from partners such as the UNHCR and NGOs is also shrinking, increasing the burden on local taxpayers.
In addition, the continuing political, military and economic crises all over Africa, coupled with weak supranational oversight from bodies such as SADC and the African Union, mean the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees knocking at Botswana’s doors will keep rising.
The situation is clearly unsustainable.
An audit of the refugees currently housed at Dukwi would likely reveal that for a good number, the reasons they left their home countries have disappeared or reasonably lessened in threat.
Under existing UN covenants and local law, Botswana cannot simply kick these refugees out even if this could provide room to accommodate those now knocking at the door with more valid reasons.
It is an indictment on SADC in particular that the bulk of refugees at Dukwi are from member states, even though no country in the 15-member bloc is at war or facing an undemocratically elected government.
There are however political and economic crises that need SADC’s resolve to correct for the benefit of regional citizens, over and above leaders’ egos.
As they gather in tourist resorts and are ushered into yet another talk-shop summit, SADC heads of state must hang their heads in shame as they sit next to one another unwilling to talk about why their citizens are in Botswana, afraid to return home.
Modey-Ebi has compelling logic and a heart-felt appeal. However, there is an extent to which Botswana can right the wrongs of its peers on the continent.
Today’s thought
“People have been born in refugee camps and they are getting tired of that.”
- Javier Bardem