Ancestral Land Returned to Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana

Botswana's High Court has ruled that the state's eviction of Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) was unlawful and unconstitutional. Diamonds were discovered in the reserve in the early 1980s, by 2005, virtually all the Bushmen had been removed. The state had claimed the resettlement was to the benefit of the Bushmen because it provided access to clinics and schools, and that their continued presence in the CKGR interfered with conservation. Survival International, which has been helping with the court case, said that ultimately the case raised only one fundamental question: was it for government to impose a way of life upon a minority group, or were they to be allowed to choose for themselves?

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