De Beers Denies Allegations Of Bushmen Re-Settlement
July 17, 02
In a recent press release, De Beers denies allegations of playing a role, and being a central cause, in the re-settlement of Bushmen in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). Survival International, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples through public campaigns, leveled the re-settlement allegations. Survival International is running a campaign against the Government of Botswana's re-settlement of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen tribes of the Central Kalahari. According to De Beers, Survival International's Director General, Stephen Corry, has alleged that diamond mining and exploration by the De Beers Group in the CKGR is the "root cause" behind the re-settlement program. In response to this, the De Beers' press release refutes the accusations, they call "wild, unsubstantiated and untrue allegations". De Beers says that not only that Corry knows that the company does not have a hand in this, that in fact he wrote them a letter in February 2002 stating so. According to De Beers, there are no "massive diamond deposits" in the CKGR, supposedly the reason behind the Bushmen re-settlement. There "were no Bushmen in the vicinity of the Gope prospect" when exploration began, and that "Diamond mining does not require the removal or resettlement of any community, in Botswana or elsewhere." The re-settlement of the Bushmen have nothing to do with diamond mining, but has been motivated by a desire to provide for their health care, education and other development needs. The program is not restricted to the Bushmen of the Kalahari but has been applied throughout Botswana by the local government. De Beers also expressed in the statement support for the "important work done around the world by Survival International, which has a reputation as a responsible non-governmental organisation and respected spokesman for the rights of indigenous people."