2007年VOA标准英语-Small Group of Botswana Bushmen Return to Ances

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
16 January 2007

In Botswana, several dozen San, or Bushmen, have returned to their ancestral homeland after a court ruled that they were wrongly evicted¹ by the government. The government says it will respect the court's decision, but activists² say the government is not making it easy for the Bushmen to go home. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

 
Bushmen return to ancestral homeland
About 40 San Bushmen were allowed to return Sunday to their traditional home in what is now a reserve in the central Kalahari Desert.

Kali Mercier, a spokesperson for the Survival International group, which supports the Bushmen's case, says their return was not without problems.

"They [the Bushmen] were accompanied from the resettlement camp to the gate [of the reserve] by a huge number of police and wildlife guards," she said. "Before they left they were told that they should remain behind because they should expect a visit by the president of Botswana next Thursday, but they said they were not prepared to do that, so they set off anyway."

She says about 10 Bushmen and nine of their children were allowed to enter the reserve without problem. But two dozen others were given only temporary passes and told they must leave after three days.

Several thousand Bushmen in the central Kalahari were evicted in 2002 to make way for a wildlife sanctuary³.

 
Women celebrate outside court in Lobatse after the High Court ruled that the Bushmen were entitled to live and hunt on ancestral lands in a game reserve, 13 Dec 2006
But 244 of their leaders protested in a lawsuit⁴, and one month ago a Botswana high court ruled that their removal was unconstitutional.

Botswana Deputy Attorney-General Abraham Ke'etshabe says the government is implementing⁶ the decision of the court.

"The court said the 189 applicants⁷ can go back and we have as a government taken it upon ourselves that we will implement⁵ that decision," he said.

A group of Bushmen two weeks ago tried to return, but were told that only the people whose names appeared on the court ruling could enter.

Mercier of Survival International says this is an overly narrow interpretation⁸ of the court ruling.

 
Malnourished Basarwa children play outside their hut in Metsiamenong, a remote village in the heart of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, 12 Jan 2007
She said, "The judgment⁹ said that the Bushmen had a constitutional right to be on the land. That means that everyone who was evicted in 2002 legally should have the right to go back. So I think the problem is here is the government's being badly advised legally."

Ke-etshabe of the Attorney-General's office disagrees.

"The reports that we hear have really not been communicated to us and we do not know where that information comes from," he said. "What we do know is that government is willing and has issued a statement that these people be allowed to go back. I think anything to the contrary is not accurate."

The government began relocating Bushmen from the central Kalahari in 1997, saying it was setting the land aside as a protected area for wildlife and the development of tourism.

The area is also known to hold sizable deposits of diamonds. Bushmen who stayed, despite the eviction¹⁰ order, say they have seen mining companies prospecting¹¹ in the area.

1 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

11 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。