Minister vows to settle Etsha issue 28 September, 2011

GUMARE - The protracted citizenship issue of some Etsha residents will be addressed before the end of the year, says Mr Peter Siele. Addressing a series of kgotha meetings at Etsha 1, 6 and 13 recently, Mr Siele promised to address the issue . Mr Siele, who is the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, noted that the issue started in 1974 when the government decided to give citizenship to all refugees residing in the villages at the time. Mr Siele said some children who had fled the Angolan civil war with their parents were not given citizenship because they were required to renounce their Angolan citizenship when they attained the age of 21, but that it never happened. He added that some who were born in Botswana to parents who had attained citizenship did not apply for citizenship upon attaining the age of 21 as required by the immigration law. However, the minister made it clear that the stringent immigration requirements are not peculiar to Etsha residents only, but apply to every individual who seeks citizenship under the same circumstances. He nonetheless acknowledged that most of the evidence pertaining to Etsha residents status was destroyed by a fire that ravaged the residence of the former United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR, Mr Malcolm Thomas. Mr Siele said rigorous investigations need to be conducted according to international immigration standards and procedures to establish whether they are eligible before being awarded citizenship. The minister expressed concern that among the applicants there are those who were born between 1910 and 1930, saying they should have benefited from the 1974 dispensation. He said the inconsistency raises fears that others might have just recently migrated into the country illegally, but claim to have long settled. Mr Siele appealed to Etsha residents to work hand in hand with immigration officials to resolve the issue. He urged them to speak nothing but the truth and expose some illegal immigrants who might have settled amongst them. In his welcome remarks, Kgosi James Sivako of Etsha 13 had pleaded with the minister to expedite the citizenship process for residents of Etsha since they have long migrated into the country. Kgosi Sivako explained that as a result of lack of information, some of the residents did not apply for citizenship when they attained the age of 21. He said for those who were born in Botswana, it was absurd to require them to renounce their Angolan citizenship because they do not know the country. He said some of the residents cannot benefit from government assistance programmes including access to anti retroviral treatment (ARVs) because of the citizenship issue. Another resident, Mr Sepapo Seyungu appreciated government commitment to resolving the Etsha citizenship issue. However, he regretted that some lives have been lost to HIV/AIDS due to lack of access to ARVs. Etsha villages are a series of 13 communities along a 20 km stretch along the Okavango Delta. They were formed by 13 Hambukushu clans who fled Angola during the civil war and settled in Botswana between 1968/69. BOPA