State wins immigrants appeal case

The AG, representing the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, officer commanding Botswana Prison Service (BPS) and FCII, firstly appealed against Justice Lot Moroka’s judgement in the case of Marie Iragi and two others and finally against the judgement of Phadi Solomon in the case of Egema Ngezi and 163 others. In both cases, the State was ordered to liberate the respondents from detention in the FCII and accommodate them at the Dukwi Refugee Camp. It is against those orders that the AG appealed.

Passing judgement that was also agreed to by four other judges, Judge President Ian Kirby said since none of the respondents was entitled to be removed from detention in the present appeals, it is not strictly necessarily to canvass the appropriate order to be made if a finding of unlawfulness was properly to be made in a future case (should that ever be so since each failed asylum seeker has effectively chosen a restricted life in a detention centre over his or her difficulties at home.)