Egyptian Nubians Continue Sit-in Against Sale of Their Ancestral Land

Hundreds of Egyptian Nubians blocked a main road in Aswan to protest the government’s planned takeover of their land they say is part of their ancestral homeland.

According to Nubians, there are 44 old villages from which they were forcibly displaced during the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1960s, and only two days ago, three Nubian protesters were injured when the Egyptian security forces attempted to disperse demonstrators. The protest escalated when the security forces stopped Nubian activists from advancing to Toshka and Forkund.

Egyptian Nubian activists organized The Nubian Return Caravan, where Nubians from all over Egypt headed to Toshka and Forkund villages where they’ve started a sit-in against a presidential decree to allocate land in both villages for investment development.

According to Al-Ahram, “Not less than 150 Egyptian Nubians continued their sit-in for the second consecutive day on the Abu Simbel-Aswan highway in Aswan governorate as security forces refused to allow them entry to Toshka to protest against the sale of land there to non-Nubians.”

“We will not go back or surrender until we get an official decree stating our right to the land and allocating it to us,” Hamada el-Ghandour, a Nubian activist, told the Washington Post. Egyptian officials have also announced that they’re meeting with Nubian leaders to help resolve the problem as soon as possible.

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