'Love Actually' star Colin Firth condemns Bushman evictions

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Colin Firth, star of the major new film 'Love Actually', has condemned the Botswana government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Speaking at a London preview of the film this week, he said, 'There is now what can only be described as an intimidation campaign to get the Bushmen off their land – land which they have lived on for millennia. Their water supply has been destroyed, and they've been shifted off to relocation camps where the lives they've known are basically over.'

Colin Firth has been an active supporter of tribal peoples' rights for many years. He says of the Bushmen, 'These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy.'

'Love Actually', tipped by UK newspaper 'The Sun' as 'the best Brit flick ever', opens today. Colin Firth has previously starred in 'Bridget Jones's Diary', 'The English Patient', and the BBC dramatisation of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email [email protected]

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