Outcry as Botswana tightens refugee protocols
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday June 15, 2017 16:13
The Agency has noted Botswana’s increasing rejection and detention of asylum seekers as well as stringent encampment protocols for those allowed in. Botswana houses well over 2,000 refugees at the Dukwi Refugee Camp, with other asylum seekers at the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants.
Speaking at an event to mark Botswana’s efforts to help refugees in the last 50 years, Modey-Ebi said lately, the government was turning its back on those seeking protection. “We have seen the stringent policy of the government toward the institution of asylum with questions being raised why persons transit other countries to end up in Botswana,” she said.
“We continue to see high rejection rates of asylum seekers and the detention of asylum seekers, coupled with a strict encampment policy. “From a UNHCR point of view, we urge the government of Botswana as a stable country on the continent, to adopt a humane approach toward the institution of asylum with apt structures put in place to determine persons in genuine need of refugee.”
She added: “A sound adjudication process ought to be conducted prior to reaching decisions because there are different factors such as non-availability of eligibility determination mechanism in some of the countries transited, serious security considerations, particularly for women and children and the fundamental aspects of family unity amongst others”.
Modey-Ebi said Botswana Refugee (Recognition and Control) Act was outdated and riddled with shortcomings in terms of refugee protection. “There is a need for a domestic legislation which is in accord with the tenets of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as a starting point in that regard,” she said.
The UNRA representative also called on local government and relevant distinguished authorities in the country to consider lifting reservations that the country made to the 1951 Convention Relating to Refugees. The limitations include those relating to refugees and wage earning employment, freedom of movement and naturalisation.
Modey-Ebi pointed out that Botswana had in the past hosted refugees from Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and today she still hosts refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, Zimbabwe and other countries.
She said Botswana had played a key role as a Frontline State at the height of liberation movements fighting to free several states in Southern Africa, which included Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland. Botswana also hosted South African refugees during the apartheid era with the support of UNHCR.
“We have come a long way as partners in the institution of international protection. This is a commendable attitude to people in need of protection over the years that cannot be overlooked,” she said. For his part, Botswana Council of Churches official, Rupert Hambira said churches played a key role in the care of refugees over the decades.
He said government would do well to draw from the church’s experience in refugee matters.“The refugee crisis was not planned by churches or the government. It presents itself.
I don’t agree with the government’s claims that economic factors have pushed some people to seek refugee. “One way or the other we were all pushed here by economic factors. A refugee is a refugee because they feel their lives are threatened and we cannot decide on behalf of a person,” he said.