Botswana's President Mogae told a UK audience yesterday that he would not allow the Bushmen to return to their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. 'I cannot allow them to go back,' he said, prejudging the court case currently in progress.
Three years after the Botswana government evicted the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from their ancestral land, over 200 Bushmen have returned home in spite of attempts to stop them, while Botswana faces increasing criticism in the international press.
On the eve of the three-year anniversary of the eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, six Bushmen have been heavily fined for hunting to feed their families.
Botswana's high court has heard how government officials evicted a dying man from his home in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and then returned to tell his sons that they would not see their father unless they agreed to be relocated.
'They're still hiding in the forests because the soldiers are in their village, and if they go back they are scared... the military will just shoot them.' Papuan Baptist Minister
On January 17 the historic court case brought by the Bushmen against the Botswana government resumes.
The Andaman Islands are home to four 'Negrito' tribes - the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and Sentinelese. The Nicobar Islands are home to two 'Mongoloid' tribes - the Shompen and Nicobarese.
One of the four 'Negrito' tribes of the Andaman Islands have been moved to the Islands' capital, Port Blair, by the local authorities.