State of the World's Minorities 2006 - Botswana
| Publisher | Minority Rights Group International |
| Publication Date | 22 December 2005 |
| Cite as | Minority Rights Group International, State of the World's Minorities 2006 - Botswana, 22 December 2005, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abdd69c.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
San
Since 1997 the Botswana government has been resettling San hunter-gatherers from their traditional homelands in what is now the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) to resettlement camps in order to set aside the game reserve for wildlife and tourism development. The resettlement areas are crowded, lack basic sanitation and health care and do not contain sufficient resources to sustain hunter-gatherer livelihoods, and the socio-economic status of those resettled has declined since resettlement. The possibility of diamond reserves in the Kalahari sets up further potential for conflict between the government's economic development policies and San's claim to their homeland.
Legal cases
In June 2004 the San won the right to have a case challenging the resettlement re-opened. The right to live and hunt in the CKGR is the crux of the application by 243 San bushmen to overturn their relocation outside the game sanctuary by the Botswana government. The action began in April 2002, seeking a ruling that the government's termination of basic services to those who refused to leave the CKGR was illegal. The government cut water, food and health services in January 2002, arguing that it was too expensive to reach out to the small communities scattered around the game reserve.
