Refugee Stories - Botswana

Botswana’s strict encampment policy, coupled with the reservation to the right to work not only hampers the self-reliance of refugees, but has also led to the increased dependency and social challenges, including harmful coping mechanisms and increased sexual and gender-based violence. [UNHCR]

Tumaini (a pseudo name for a refugee woman whom I interviewed) arrived in Botswana after fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a result of civil war in 1995 with her now deceased mother and her older brother.