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Mr. Prime Minister, The safety of the people an the protection of their land in Egypt is more important than constructing tourist establishments and trading in their properties on the grounds of public utility!!!
The LCHR received complaints from the villagers of ElMarais, Luxor complaining about the decision of the Prime Ministers No. 264 of 2007, for the expropriation of 500 acres of their agricultural land for public utility, to establish an anchorage for the floating hotels South of El- Baghdadi Bridge on the west side. In their complaints the villagers express their resentment regarding the expropriation of their farmland for establishing an anchorage on the grounds of public utility. The villagers wonder which is considered a public utility food production and the preservation of farmland or land wastage, especially if there was other desert lands in the eastern side opposite to there lands and suitable for establishing the anchorage, and are located several kilometers only from the village of ElMarais.
The LCHR is worried about the tendency of the authorities to displace the residents of the villages surrounding the ancient monuments in the areas of Luxor and Aswan and other governorates, and dealing with the land and property of citizens as commodities, in an obvious violation of the property rights and wasting of agricultural land and the historical rights of farmers on this land under the pretext that the revenues of constructing such projects exceeds the revenues of the agricultural land. Which is a bad logic that excludes and ignores the social and cultural aspects and the rights of the citizens of those villages.
The LCHR asks if the role of the current government was to trade in the lands and homes of farmers, waste their social safety, and violate the laws and articles of the Constitution, which guarantees for the citizens their right to the safety of their homes and their lives and properties?
The LCHR asserts that the previous decision commits a lot of violations as the decision was issued by the Prime Minister who does not have the authority to expropriate for public utility, which is the authority of the President only, the decision also violated the standards of expropriation for public utility according to law No. 577 of 1954. the decision will also lead to the displacement of 20000 citizens spread over 8000 families without giving them alternative lands and housing and adequate compensation
The center's is surprised by the statements of the officials in Luxor, which emphasize that the city is basically a tourist city, and so the citizens must adapt to the nature of their city, and work in the field of tourism without giving any consideration to the nature of the activity and the work of the residents or to the different aspects of their lives and their stability, which has lasted for thousands of years, and encroaching on their sole source of income from agriculture.
The farmers have made an appeal for the abolition of the Prime Minister's decision, because it violates the law.
The LCHR presents the complaints of the farmers to the Prime Minister, asking him to reconsider the decision, especially that the residents were not compensated for their lands and homes, which have been expropriated, and also asking him to give the residents alternative lands and hoses to enable them to continue their life, and stop the practices and policies that do not take the people's lives and stability and their source of income and the agricultural resources and wealth into account in order to protect them when planning for projects.
The Center asks for the solidarity of all the institutions of civil society with the villagers of ElMarais village, to stop their deporting and to stop their deprivation from the safety of their land and their homes and to guarantee their rights to live in safety and freedom.
For more information, please contact the Center.