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Farmers in Monshat El Garayda Call for Help
Farmers in Egypt still suffer from the implementation of the land law no. 96 for the year 1992. After the state finished implementing this law on farmers agrarian lands, is has started implementing it on the agrarian lands distributed among them by the agrarian reform corporation since 1952 either by ownership or rent.
The problem of the farmers in Monshat El Garayda – Kafr El Sheikh goes back to the fifties, when the agrarian reform corporation distributed 1000 feddans of land among them, and in 1994, the agrarian reform corporation gave these farmers certificates that prove that theses farmers have the right to use and benefit of this land. The farmers were paying the price of the land on long-term installments. In 1999, the farmers were surprised with a decision by the agrarian reform corporation to deliver this area of land to the inheritors of Mr. Serag El Din –one of the big land owners- claiming that the farmers have violated the usufructuary conditions. The new owners have extracted ownership documents from the agrarian administration, and then filed an eviction lawsuit against the farmers, but this lawsuit was refused by the court. The farmers have filed a lawsuit against the agrarian reform corporation, demanding their right to own this land according to law no. 69 for the year1974 that gives guarantees this right to the farmers, but the agrarian reform corporation has issued its decision to give the land to the inheritors, and give these ownership claimers the right to dispose of this land. This decision is illegal, as it didn't clarify the borders of the released land. Farmers state that this decision was issued for another land, but the corruption of the corporation's employees made them refer it to Monshat El Garayda land.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Agriculture left the problem between the farmers and the ownership claimers unsolved, which could cause violent events in the area.
LCHR has filed a challenge to this decision before the conflict settlement committee at the agrarian reform corporation, and the committee has scheduled a session on 17/1/2007 to cancel the release decision issued for the inheritors.
The LCHR demands the Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture and the agrarian reform corporation to investigate these events and form a committee that represents Monshat El Garayda farmers and their associations to examine the relevant documents and make a field inspection of the farmers land to prove their right to own their lands, and guarantee their rights to security of land tenure, safe land possession and decent living.
For more information, please contact the Center.