Botswana denies plans to evict Bushmen

Botswana denied yesterday that it plans to evict hundreds of Bushmen from their land to make way for a wildlife park.

This week the indigenous rights group Survival International claimed that the Botswanan authorities were going to evict the community, which has lived in the southern settlement of Ranyane for generations.

But Botswana government spokesman Jeff Ramsay said the allegations were false.

"The government of Botswana has no plans to remove those who want to stay at Ranyane," he said.

Ramsay said that most of the residents had asked to be moved.

Survival International on Friday raised concerns about reports that hundreds of Bushmen would be ejected from Ranyane, the site of a proposed wildlife park between two of the country's premier safari reserves .

It said President Ian Khama is on the board of Conservation International, in the US, which is implementing the wildlife corridor. Ramsay said authorities and the Bushmen had met five times to discuss the issue.