11 Jun 2015

Refugees must go back home when conditions that forced them into Botswana are no longer prevalent in their countries, Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi has said.

Addressing Central District councillors on Tuesday (June 9), he said Zimbabwean refugees had to go back home, arguing that the civil strife that forced them to seek asylum in Botswana was no more.

Mr Kgathi stated that some Batswana were offering refugees jobs and relocating them from Dukwi Refugee Camp. He spoke against encouraging refugees to stay forever in Botswana.   “Let them return to the camp because we are taking stock,” he warned.

He informed councillors that asylum seekers must ask for refuge in a nearby peaceful country as opposed to the current situation where Botswana hosted refugees from far away countries.

Meanwhile, Mr Kgathi also warned private security companies to comply with the law or risk losing their licences. He said that his office was inundated with complaints relating to poor labour relations from employees of private security companies.

“I have the authority to withdraw their licences,” he said, challenging owners of security firms to show cause why their licences should not be withdrawn.

He revealed that he had requested for a meeting with the majority of security companies, as they have cases at the labour office. He called on private security companies to create a database of their employees where each would be identified by their Omang number for easy identification.

The minister said there has been a trend where employees are dismissed on bad conduct by one security company, and then employed by another without the necessary checks. ENDS