Ancestral land conflict in Botswana

San people The San people (or Basarwa, formerly known as "Bushmen"), are one of the oldest cultures on Earth; they have lived in the area around the Kalahari Desert much longer than neighboring tribal groups. Much tribal land in Botswana, including land occupied by the San, was lost during European colonization, and the pattern of loss of land and access to natural resources continued after Botswana's independence. The San have been particularly affected over time by encroachment on the part of majority tribes and non-indigenous farmers onto lands traditionally used by the San. Government policies beginning in the 1970s transferred a significant area of traditionally San land to White settlers and majority agro-pastoralist tribes. They launched investigations and research campaigns to have a more extensive understanding of the problems faced by minority populations in Africa. In Botswana, "there was pressure from some sources for changes in the way the San were treated, with some academics suggesting that the San be given a place of their own." == First People of the Kalahari ==

As an organization to represent and advocate for the San people during its early conflicts, the "First People of the Kalahari," also known as "Kgeikani Kweni," was founded in October 1993 by John Hardbattle, Roy Sesana, and Aron Johannes. The creation of this advocacy organization was the result of the ongoing struggle for minorities' land and resource rights. The San people felt like they needed a representative to voice out their needs and assist with their fight for equal rights in Botswana. Between 1986 and 1989, the San and other minority groups in the CKGR were politically active and founded the Kuru Development Fund, a multipurpose organization with the goal of community development. In 2002, the San People, alongside their representatives, took the government of Botswana to court to fight for their right to remain in the CKGR and access the natural resources within it. Ultimately in 2006, the Botswana High Court acknowledged the right of the San people to reside in the reserve. == Diamonds and land conflict ==

Today, the economy of Botswana is heavily reliant on diamond exports. '''''' With the discovery of diamonds in 1967, they came to account for fifty percent of Botswana's GDP. However, before the discovery of diamonds, Botswana was heavily dependent on agriculture. Botswana was one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita of 80 dollars per year. There are claims that the GOB attempts to relocate the San people are motivated by the discovery of diamonds in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in the late 1980s. Others emphasize that GOB arguments for relocating the San people, like development and animal conservation, are contradicted by the government's actions like cutting off the water supply, which prevents their development. Additionally, the CKGR is considered to be “the richest diamond-producing area in the world.” The claim is that if diamonds were discovered and a mine would have to be established, the amount of land it would need would be minimal, and would not interfere with the lives of the San people. == Early conflict ==

Although the establishment of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) was intended to protect the rights of minorities, between the 1970s and 1980s, an urge to relocate the San people started. The government of Botswana (GOB) claimed that there was a decline of animals due to overhunting by the San people for their subsistence. There was also the argument that the status of "game reserve" blocked the possibilities of an expansion of services, such as hospitals, schools, and police, available to the populations within the reserve. The GOB claimed that the relocations would be beneficial for the San because services could be better distributed outside of the reserve since it is difficult to do so inside the reserve. Additionally, the government stated that the San people had to be relocated because they posed a threat to wildlife.As the GOB continued to find ways to remove the residents of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the residents and its foreign supporters, like Survival International and anti-apartheid leaders, found ways to evade the government's relocation efforts. In April 1989, the human rights group, Survival International, took action on behalf of the San people and released an "Urgent Action Bulletin on the issue of the forced relocation of people out of the reserve."Additionally, Survival International and other human rights organizations wrote letters to the GOB, particularly the President's Office and the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing, over their efforts for the San people's resettlement. In the early 1990s, relocation efforts intensified. The government slowed down the delivery of services to people inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, in efforts to push people out on their own. The government would claim that these services would once again be available when they resettled outside the reserve. However, the San were concerned that they would be pushed to resettle in crowded areas where they would continue to struggle over access to services.Some residents did eventually relocate on their own; however, after some time, they returned to the reserve because they claimed that there was not enough land in the new settlement and that there was ongoing competition for the limited resources. In 1992, a meeting and a workshop, where the San, alongside their representatives, expressed their concerns and the problems they faced over relocation, led to world attention on the issue. The workshop "Sustainable Rural Development hosted on April 13, 1992, in Gaborone, allowed the San to express the problems they faced in Botswana. Additionally, a meeting was organized between the San and the Office and the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing on May 18, 1992, where the San demanded the creation of political structures where they would be represented and have a vote over decisions that would impact them. In response to San demands, the government of Botswana claimed that the San, with foreign support, wished to secede from Botswana. ==Central Kalahari Game Reserve relocations==

The lifestyles of the San and Bakgalagadi residents of the CKGR changed as wells were drilled and a school and health post were established there, which encouraged an agro-pastoralist lifestyle and led to the keeping of some livestock within the reserve. The government's official reason for adopting the policy states: Anaya writes that while some former residents of the CKGR chose not return to the reserve due to a lack of services, including water, those living in the reserve have stated a desire to be able to hunt and gather, since these activities are an important part of their culture. A sense of a deep personal connection to the land in the reserve was evident among both those San living in the CKGR as well as those San and Bakgalagadi who had been resettled outside the CKGR. These latter groups expressed a desire to return to the reserve despite the challenges of living there. A 2006 ruling by the High Court of Botswana confirmed, however, that residents had been forcibly and unconstitutionally removed. The court held in Roy Sesana and Others v. The Attorney General that the San plaintiffs were, "forcibly or wrongly and without their consent", deprived of possession of land that they lawfully occupied. The judgement noted conflicting and confusing statements and actions by the government. Survival International director Stephen Corry said that with the mine's opening: In 2005, John Simpson of BBC News described the people of New Xade as suffering from drunkenness and sexually transmitted diseases, saying, "When the Botswana government takes foreign guests to New Xade on fact-finding trips, it shows them the showcase schools and clinics which have been built for the Bushmen. The VIP buses take a detour in order to miss the shebeens [bars]." Simpson said he suspected the relocations were partly motivated by plans for diamond mining. In a 2005 embassy communication released in 2011, United States Ambassador to Botswana Joseph Huggins condemned the forced evictions, saying: "While it is probably the case that two-three years on since the move, the greatest trauma is past, it is also clear that people have been dumped in economically absolutely unviable situations without forethought, and without follow-up support. The lack of imagination displayed on the part of the GOB [Government of Botswana] is breathtaking. The GOB views New Xade as similar to many sites of rural poverty, deserving no special treatment. But the special tragedy of New Xade's dependent population is that it could have been avoided." ==2006 High Court decision==

On 13 December 2006, the San won a historic ruling in their long-running court case against the government. According to the San's lawyer Gordon Bennett, "Nobody thought the Bushmen had any rights" before their court victory. "Nobody even cared." The case was decided shortly before the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted. Legal scholars Donald K. Anton and Dinah L. Shelton write that the case "exemplfies what some consider a potential conflict between environmental protection and human rights". By a 2–1 majority, the court ruled the refusal to allow the Basarwa into the CKGR without a permit, and the refusal to issue special game licences to allow the San to hunt, was "unlawful and unconstitutional". It also found that the San were "forcibly and wrongly deprived of their possessions" by the government. The government interpreted the ruling narrowly, however, and only limited numbers of San have been allowed to return to this land. The government further required the children and other relatives of the original applicants in the case to obtain permits in order to return to their ancestral land. In April 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) criticised Botswana's government for not allowing certain San to return, as well as for denying Bushmen the right to hunt in the reserve, despite their having used the land for hunting for thousands of years. ==High Court appeal==

A number of San brought a new legal action to reopen the water borehole in the reserve, which was capped in 2002. As of 2013, however, the government was still blocking San people's access to water in the CKGR. According to a case study published in June 2012 by Minority Rights Group International, Gope mine owner Gem Diamonds was to work with CKGR residents in order that they would benefit from the mine: the company was to drill four new boreholes, hire residents, and establish a community trust, but only one waterhole had been drilled by year's end. ==2012–2013 conflict==

In May 2012 the Basarwa appealed to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, asking the United Nations to force the government to recognize their land and resource rights. The forum approved a set of nine draft recommendations addressing the impact of land seizures and government disenfranchisement of indigenous people. known as the Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor. Botswana government representative Jeff Ramsay denied any forced eviction plans. A Survival International campaigner said, "I don’t know how the government can say [...] that they are not planning to evict them when the Ranyane Bushmen are taking the government to court to stop from being removed." A new case was filed on behalf of the residents. In response to a complaint filed on behalf of residents, the court issued a restraining order in June 2013 prohibiting the government from relocating residents from Ranyane and from blocking access to the water pipe, entering any household without occupants’ permission, and removing residents without first notifying the community's lawyers. A Botswana government Facebook post stated that the Department of Immigration had turned down Bennett's request for a visa, describing it as "submitted on short notice" A follow-up Facebook post said that the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, the Honourable Edwin Batshu, defended this move as being "in the interest of national security." The trial began on 29 July. ==See also==