US embassy cable - 05GABORONE535

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GABORONE 000535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CORRECTED COPY (REPLACING GABORONE 525 AND 527) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PGOV, KHIV, BC, Refugees, Human Rights, HIV and AIDS 
SUBJECT: REFUGEES AT DUKWE REFUGEE CAMP SEEK ARV 
THERAPY 
 
 
1. (U)  Summary:  A March 31 visit to Botswana's 
Dukwe Refugee Camp by Ambassador Huggins revealed 
difficult living conditions and challenges in 
fighting HIV/AIDS within the camp's population. 
Community leaders at the Camp blamed the 
Government's policy of not providing ARV treatment 
to the refugees for the common refusal to fully 
utilize counseling and testing services.  GOB 
representatives explained that the scarcity of 
resources was the reason that refugees could not be 
a target group for HIV/AIDS treatment programs. On 
April 14, UNHCR ResRep told the Ambassador that 
UNHCR would provide the ARVs until the GOB was ready 
to fund the program. End Summary. 
 
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DIFFICULT CONDITIONS 
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2. (U)  Dukwe Refugee Camp, located approximately 
130 kilometers northwest of Francistown in the 
northeast of Botswana, is home to approximately 
3,000 refugees.  These include roughly 880 
Namibians, 864 Angolans, 500 Somalis, and a number 
from various countries in the Great Lakes Region and 
other areas in Africa.  Three organizations in 
addition to the Government of Botswana and the UNHCR 
have a presence in Dukwe.  The Red Cross distributes 
food, Habitat for Humanity helps build houses, and 
the Botswana Council of Churches  helps to fund 
education for the children of refugees.  This 
support notwithstanding, we found that conditions in 
the camp were poor, with water in short supply, 
sanitation facilities crude (i.e. pit latrines) and 
employment opportunities rare. 
 
3. (U) Despite the difficult circumstances of life 
in the camp, most refugees are reluctant to leave, 
with exceptions.  After visits to Angola by Angolan 
refugees at the Dukwe camp, UNCHR expects to 
repatriate 430 Angolans later this year.  During the 
month of March, twenty-nine Namibians registered to 
return to their home country as well. 
 
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RESIDENTS WANT ARV & PMTCT 
-------------------------- 
 
4. (U)  During a tour of the camp, community leaders 
described to Ambassador Huggins the challenges of 
combating HIV/AIDS within the Dukwe.  Despite 
continuing education on reproductive health-some of 
it carried out by U.S.-based World Refugee Academy-- 
, incidents of teenage pregnancies, rape, and 
intergenerational sex are on the increase.  The 
leaders attributed this to the lack of employment 
opportunities, abject poverty, and the common abuse 
of alcohol and drugs within the camp. 
 
5. (U)  The community leaders' biggest complaint, 
however, was with regard to the GOB's policy of not 
providing ARV and PMTCT treatment to refugees. 
Individuals frequently prefer not to know their 
status since the health care necessary to treat 
someone who is HIV-positive is not available.  They 
asked Ambassador Huggins to appeal to the GOB to 
extend its ARV and PMTCT programs to refugees. 
Refugees are involved in both casual and long-term 
sexual relationships with Batswana outside the camp. 
As a consequence, failure to effectively combat the 
disease within Dukwe compromises similar efforts in 
the surrounding communities. 
 
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GOB CITES LACK OF RESOURCES 
--------------------------- 
 
6. (U)  On April 4, Ambassador Huggins, accompanied 
by the UNHCR Country representative, met with Mr. 
Bergsman Sentle, Deputy Permanent Secretary for 
Political Affairs in the Office of the President, on 
the plight of refugees at Dukwe.  The Ambassador 
observed that if refugees are not included in the 
ARV and PMTCT programs, their interaction with the 
public outside the camp will undermine the 
government's campaign against HIV/AIDS.  Mr. Sentle 
recognized the problems associated with excluding 
refugees from the ARV and PMTCT programs, but 
pointed out that the government is restricted by a 
lack of resources.  He noted, however, that 
discussion about the issue continues within the - 
government and that it is committed to finding a 
solution.  Mr. Sentle commented that the GOB has 
been in touch with UNHCR Geneva on this issue.  On 
April 14, the UNHCR ResRep in Botswana, Benny Otim, 
told the Ambassador the Roman Catholic Bishop in 
Francistown had agreed to fund ARVs for the refugees 
until the GOB could take over. 
 
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Comment 
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7. Without involving Dukwe Refugee Camp in 
Botswana's campaign to roll out ARV therapy, a major 
gap is exposed in combating the prevalence and 
spread of HIV/AIDS in the northeast of the country. 
Understandably, the GOB's resources will be targeted 
to its own citizens first.  A consideration that the 
GOB might be weighing as well is that if word 
spreads that ARV therapy is available at Dukwe, the 
trickle of refugees, especially from central Africa, 
will grow.  (Refugees from Democratic Republic of 
Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi over the past four 
years have made their way to Dukwe as the message 
spread that it was an easy place from which to be 
resettled in a third country). It is encouraging 
that the Catholic Church has agreed to fill the gap 
until the GOB can take on the responsibility. 
HUGGINS