“The influx of Zimbabweans, whether there is a government or not, its an issue to be dealt with as a fact. It is a fact they are crossing alleging that they are being beaten up even after the failed presidential run-off. We have more than 215 who crossed last week,” Botswana’s foreign affairs minister Phandu Skelemani yesterday told the media in Gaborone.
Botswana has been one of the few African countries that have openly condemned Mugabe’s re-election in the June poll in which he was the only candidate after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out saying a free and fair vote was impossible following widespread violence and torture of opposition supporters.
Skelemani said Botswana had no alternative but to provide Zimbabwean refugees with humanitarian aid although this had a negative effect on the country’s limited resources. He said they would all be interviewed to determine whether they were genuine political refugees. – ZimOnline