British journo differs with SI on Basarwa

Having spent the past three months in Botswana, writing the Bush Telegraph column for this paper, I was saddened to hear a fragile truce between Survival International (SI) and the Botswana government has broken out once more into open warfare. SI is demanding a boycott of tourism to Botswana due to the “ongoing persecution of the Bushmen”.

The organisation claims that harassment of the Bushmen is now “greater than ever”, even after a landmark 2006 High Court ruling which found the government had been “unlawful and unconstitutional” in trying to relocate the remaining inhabitants of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). The government has responded, claiming it has restored the rights of the Bushmen and given them “unfettered access and residence rights in the reserve”.