/ 23 February 1999

FIGHTING FOR KASIKILI

BOTSWANA on Monday raised the thorny issue of Namibian asylum-seekers during its opening day of arguments in the Kasikili-Sedudu border dispute before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Molosiwa Selepeng, an aide to President Festus Mogae, argued that the safe passage of more than 2000 would-be refugees into Botswana demonstrated that the Botswana Defence Force did not operate a “shoot-to-kill” policy against Namibians, as Namibia’s representatives claimed at the ICJ last week. Botswana’s contends that the northern channel of the Chobe river is the main channel, therefore under international law and the 1890 Anglo-German Treaty Kasikili falls within their territory. Namibia argues that the southern channel of the river is the main one, which would make Kasikili clearly part of Namibia.