I start this blog in Botswana.  I travelled, with my wife Jawahir, to the North of the country to interview illegal Zimbabwean migrants.  Part of a project Jawahir and I are doing for DFID.  I couldnt wait for our report to be published before writing about what we saw today. There is a 16 year girl in a police cell tonight in Bobongo who has just been caught by the Botswanian police - one of twenty caught in the area just today.  We met her in the police station that we wandered into to ask some questions of the chief of police for the area.  Yes, he did have one female Zimbabwean in his cells.  Could we speak to her?  We didnt mind him being present (of course we did but no way would he let us talk to her otherwise). 



Her story, like so many of her brave compatriots, started because she wanted to earn about $100 to pay for her studies so that she could study 'A' levels in Economics.  She was intrigued that I wrote books and asked my name to see if she had ready any...I am not Samuelson so no way would she ever have found my books (see my website www.mhcinternational.com if you want to know more).  Then she burst into tears because she waa worried we might tell the Zimbabwean authorities about her - the CID would harass her, many people disappear she said.  Her father was dead, her mother ill and she the only breadwinner.



So, like many Zimbweans hoping to escape the clutches of the awful Mugabe regime, she jumped the fence - easy enough to do in Botswana.  Only a small river - the Limpopo to clear.  Yes she knew two girls who had been washed away in that unpredicatable river liable to flooding at any moment and infested with large crocodiles.



40,000 of her compatriots are sent back to Botswana every year.  Most come immediately back.  So why doesnt the Botswana Government do something sensible like giving them temporary work permits?  Well, they need a passport.  But this cant be had since it costs $250 and there is a wait list of 300,000 people.  Oh yes the Zimbabwean Government takes the money ... and the passport?  Oh sorry there is no paper to print them because of the sanctions by those nasty British and US.



And SADC, the EU of the South African States - they prefer quiet diplomacy.  Tell that to Pamela!  The fate that awaits her is to be raped in the holding cell, with a high chance of HIV/AIDS.  Or if she manages to get back to Zimbabwe, Mugabe's thugs will await her.  Why did you leave?  Are you a spy?  Etc Etc.. More rape no doubt.



Pamela, you have my e-mail if you ever get back to Harari, do write!