Kalahari Game Reserve (Hansard, 5 April 2004)

HL Deb 05 April 2004 vol 659 cc1585-7 1585

§ Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:

§ What progress they are making in persuading the Government of Botswana to allow those Bushmen who wish to do so to return to their chosen way of life in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)
My Lords, through the High Commission in Gaborone we maintain an open dialogue with the Government of Botswana on this issue. We are encouraging constructive debate between the Government of Botswana and the negotiating team which represents the rights and aspirations of the Basarwa. My honourable friend the Minister for Africa discussed the issue with President Mogae and the Commonwealth Heads of Government at the meeting in Abuja last December.

§ Lord Pearson of Rannoch
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. It is good to know that some part of the Government's ethical foreign policy beats on, at least in the breast of the noble Baroness. Does she agree that, in view of the ill treatment and suffering of the Bushmen, and the resultant negative publicity that damages Botswana, its commercial interests and its vitally important diamond interests, the best thing would be if those Bushmen who want to go back to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to continue their ancient way of life were allowed to do so without any fuss? Would that not be the best thing for all concerned at this point?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I am not sure that it would be the best thing. We must recognise that the Government of Botswana face a genuine dilemma over the relocation of the Basarwa people. As well as wanting to protect the Central Kalahari as a game reserve, the Government of Botswana have an obligation to raise the living standards of all their citizens by providing basic services, such as water, medical facilities and education. That is virtually impossible in a region the size of the game reserve which, as I am sure the noble Lord will know, is approximately the same size as Denmark. In saying that it would be better if everybody just went back and took up an ancient way of life, the noble Lord must consider the real problems that would be raised in relation to the services that would then be available to those people and their children.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the Central Kalahari Game Reserve was established in 1586 the last days of the colonial regime as a means o fallowing the Basarwa people to continue their traditional way of life and that that was confirmed by my old friend, and contemporary at Balliol, the late Seretse Khama, when he became president of Botswana after independence? Does the Minster agree that the efforts to resettle the Basarwa people have not resulted in an increase in their standard of living but in the spread of alcoholism, AIDS and degeneration? Does she recognise that Britain, as the former colonial power, has a moral obligation to carry out the commitments that were made to these people during the colonial era?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I am aware that we have a special relationship over this, which is why our High Commission pays the attention that it does to this issue. Several visits have been made by the High Commission, the most recent being in June last year. The noble Lord is quite right that there is a problem over AIDS but there is an AIDS problem in the whole of Botswana. There is a genuine problem over these people. It is not simply a question of them being allowed to return to their ancient lands in order to carry on a way of life that has gone on for centuries. I draw the attention of the noble Lord to the part of my original Answer that pointed out that there is a negotiating team that is representing the interests of the Basarwa people and there will be a court hearing on this important issue later this year.

§ Lord Hughes of Woodside
My Lords, although it is very tempting to believe in the concept of the noble savage, and believe that we should retain a type of existence which was perhaps okay a hundred years ago, does the Minister recognise that we are in the modern world and all the people in it are entitled to the best modern medical services that can be provided?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, we have to tread a very careful path between romantic idealism and the fact that people today expect to have the kind of services to which I referred. There is a problem. Botswana is a country that is larger than France in size, but which has a population of only 1.5 million people. People are very widely spaced and services have to be provided. Botswana is reckoned to be the least corrupt African country. It has an economy growing at 7 per cent per annum, a quite remarkable figure, because it is redeploying the profits of the diamond trade into the economy in general and it has been a stable democracy since independence in 1966. Botswana does not have a bad story to tell. There is a problem over this, there will be a court case, but noble Lords should not blow it out of all proportion.

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords. can the noble Baroness confirm a report made to me fairly recently that many of the younger Basarwa people are desperate to get proper education for their children? There is, obviously, a division of attitude between some members of the older generation and some members of the younger generation. I support much of what the noble Baroness said, but is there any way of achieving that education other than allowing them to 1587 go to centres in that huge country to receive it? I see no alternative but to allow the freedom for some to go back under negotiation and for those who want education for their children to group together.

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I understand that during the recent visit by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Botswana to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and settlement camps members of the group observed, as the noble Baroness indicated, that the younger generation of Basarwa were mostly satisfied with their new lives and enjoyed community living and access to education. However, the noble Baroness will know that there are conflicting reports. Some want to return to the ancient lands despite the fact that many of those have accepted the resettlement deal which was put forward by the Government of Botswana. The matter is being dealt with properly through the negotiating team who represent the Basarwa people pursuing the court case to which I referred earlier. I hope, therefore, that these issues will be properly aired during that process later this year.

§ Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, what assessment have Her Majesty's Government made of the illegal diamond trade in Botswana and the associated violation of human rights?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, the noble Baroness will know that the Government of Botswana were one of the first to take up the Kimberley process and are a founding member fully supporting the certification scheme for rough diamonds, which is designed to break the link between illicit sales of rough diamonds and the funding of conflict. Botswana has done the right thing in relation to conflict diamonds. I reiterate that the diamond industry is enormously important. It accounts for 33 per cent of the GDP of Botswana and some 50 per cent of all foreign exchange earnings. Botswana is the largest producer of diamonds by value in the world and relies on those diamonds for the buoyancy in its economy. I stress that that has not been kept by a small elite; it is ploughed back into the economy of Botswana enabling that country to have a growth rate which many in Africa would envy.