Nile islanders determined to resist Egypt govt’s bid to evict them
warraq island (egypt) — Residents of a Cairo island with lush fields and unpaved roads are determined to stay put as judges rule on their possible expulsion.
Accessible only by ferry, the island of Warraq stands in sharp contrast to the capital with more than 20 million inhabitants across the Nile.
But the government’s growing interest in Warraq has stoked fear among the 100,000 islanders who make a living mostly from agriculture, fishing and crewing the ferries.
“Why haven’t they (the authorities) held direct negotiations between us and investors?” asked 40-year-old plumber Amr Khalifa.
“We know full well that every inch of this island is worth gold.”
In 2017, Egyptian authorities moved to demolish “illegal” buildings
on Warraq as part of a campaign aimed at restoring state-owned land. The operation triggered violent clashes between residents and security forces in which at least one person was killed before the campaign was suspended.
On Saturday, the administrative court made up of Egypt’s top judges is to rule on the residents’ appeal
against the government’s decision to raze their buildings.
In a 2017 report, the government said Warraq, an agricultural area of 1,000 acres, had been “illegally encroached for more than 15 years and transformed into an informal residential area”.
Many of Warraq’s residents insist they hold legal property contracts.
“We were expecting more development, not expulsion,” said 32-year-old Abu Rawash Mohamed, a ferry owner, adding that curbs had been imposed on the entry of building materials.
“If you ask any kid on a street here what this place means to them... they would say we will not leave this island,” he said.
“The government must understand... that on the island of Warraq we have a special nature,” said “Captain” Abdel Fattah, a local benefactor.
“There are strong ties between families on the island, nobody will abandon the other.”
The government has repeatedly denied it plans to expel the residents of Warraq to make way for a luxury investment project. —