Eritrean Players Face Deportation

Ten Eritrean soccer players, who are currently in Botswana and seeking asylum from the country, could face deportation soon, Botswana’s ministry said.

Botswana’s security minister said on Thursday that the players seeking asylum will have to be deported – a decision that the players’ lawyer said he would wholeheartedly challenge in court.

The players have recently displayed various forms of protest in order to be granted asylum by the Botswana government. Yesterday, the players refused to board an airplane back home to Zimbabwe.

However, it seems that Botswana’s ministry is not having any of it, with their Defence and Security Minister Shaw Kgathi, saying that the players will most certainly be deported:
“…[sic] The issue is simple: they must go back to their country. You don’t come here to play football, lose, then say you want political asylum…There are proper steps that should be followed if you want to be a refugee,” he told reporters.