Lesotho Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Lesotho, index & images ($)
 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, Lesotho, index & images ($)

Lesotho Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Immigration into Lesotho

 * Modern Lesotho, then called Basutoland, emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822.
 * Further evolution of the state emerged from conflicts between British and Dutch colonists leaving the Cape Colony following its seizure from the French.
 * Trekboers from the Cape Colony arrived on the western borders of Basutoland and claimed rights to its land. Incoming Boers attempted to colonize the land between the two rivers and even north of the Caledon, claiming that it had been abandoned by the Sotho people.
 * Moshoeshoe subsequently signed a treaty that annexed the Orange River Sovereignty where many Boers had settled. Moshoeshoe fought a series of wars with the Boers. Moshoeshoe lost a great portion of the western lowlands. The last war with the Boers ended in 1867 when Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868.
 * In 1869, the British signed a treaty with the Boers that defined the boundaries of Basutoland. This treaty effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size by ceding away its western territories.
 * The administration of Basutoland was transferred to the Cape Colony in 1871. In the Cape Colony period between 1871 and 1884, Basutoland was treated similarly to other territories that had been forcibly annexed.
 * In 1884, the territory became a Crown colony by the name of Basutoland. Basutoland gained its independence from the United Kingdom and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966.

Emigration From Lesotho
KNOMAD Statistics: Emigrants: 324,000. Top destination countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, the United States, Malaysia, Tanzania, Swaziland, the Netherlands, Australia, Kenya