Botswana sends expatriates packing

Through its secretary, Tumo Moaneng, the Association Business Council of Botswana (ABCB) has said that they are in the dark over the criteria government is using to issue work and resident permits. "We are in the dark. We don't know the criteria used to allow foreigners to be permitted to work or invest in this country," Moaneng told Mmegi this week. The government has tightened the process of issuing work and residence permits after the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs introduced a Point Based System (PBS) earlier this year. The ministry says the PBS is a flexible, comprehensive and objective way of assessing the suitability of an immigrant to be employed or to invest in a country. It works by awarding points for the attributes considered desirable in immigrants who want to live and invest or work in a country. But ABCB is up in arms after the PBS resulted in a high rate of rejection of applications. Moaneng has said that a foreigner has to score more than 75% in order to be given a permit. Recently, she claimed that five of her clients were denied permits because the ministry said they scored below the cut off point. Some of her clients were told they did not meet the clearance criteria. "Even those who have been here for decades are being rejected when they apply for renewal. This is likely to turn away investors from Botswana," she lamented.