Botswana Bushmen give lectures and address world media during UK tour
October 6, 2004
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Bushmen representatives Roy Sesana and Jumanda Gakelebone spoke to packed crowds during their recently-ended UK tour, and gave a lecture at the Royal Society of Arts. Speaking to the world's press they said, 'The government of Botswana say they moved us to resettlement camps to develop us. There is no development. The government plan is to kill the culture of the Bushmen.'
The two men also joined Survival vigils outside the Botswana High Commission and De Beers' flagship London shop, where a scrum of press photographers were waiting for them.
The visit received coverage around the world. Articles and interviews appeared in (amongst many others): Channel 4 News (UK), Channel News Asia (Singapore), Mail and Guardian (South Africa), Sunday Times (South Africa), L'Actualité (France), Europa Press (Spain), Daily Telegraph (UK), National Post (Canada) and Turkish Press (Turkey).
The Bushmen also met Labour MP Diane Abbott, Amnesty International, the Aegis Trust (an organization that campaigns against genocide) and Tourism Concern.
Roy Sesana has continued on to Norway for discussions with the Saami, the Indigenous people of northern Europe who are supporting the Bushmen's struggle to return to their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Photos and footage available.
For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email [email protected] For background on the Bushmen, click here
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