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The World Bank and the Egyptian government in before the Egyptian Judiciary Because of violating the rights of farmers in the Delta
The Center made an appeal on behalf of a number of peasants before the Administrative Court under the number 50772 for 63 judicial against the Prime Minister, the Minister of Irrigation and President of the Board of Directors of the World Bank to commit them to change the course of irrigation water in the development project in the Delta to Alrhaoy Bank after the desalination of water to be suitable for agriculture.
Based on the appeal in the causes of the violation of the project to the Egyptian constitution and the rights of farmers in the Delta agriculture and that the project would adversely affect the rights of small farmers due to lack of water, who will suffer from it in the future, although the Egyptian government has signed an agreement between the World Bank to implement this project and those of the Convention contrary to the Constitution and the abuse of power and corruption and exploitation in non-public interest
Terms of Article 7 of the Egyptian Constitution (the society of social solidarity) and Article 8 of the Code (The State shall guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens) and Article 40 of the Constitution that they (citizens before the law, whether they are equal in rights and duties without discrimination including on grounds of sex, origin, language, religion or belief), and other resources which obliges a State to apply the rules of equality and social justice, solidarity and protection of natural wealth and resources.
Since the agreement between the World Bank and the Egyptian government on a project for water conservation and irrigation development in the West Delta contravene the provisions of the Constitution, that the project will divert water from the Nile to the farms the top investors in the western delta and this will impact on smallholder farmers and deprive them of water needed to irrigate their land This makes a distinct category for the category and violates the provisions of the constitution.
Also the appeal stressed that the Convention Center where the defect related to end any element of the ultimate goal sought by the source of the decision and hoped to achieve and find that the government and the Ministry of Irrigation of this project will help the category of senior investors access to water and depriving small farmers access to water necessary to irrigate their land with the help the set-aside farmland and affecting the food problem in Egypt and over the gap in agricultural while seeking state and its various development in all aspects and fields and to encourage young farmers to agriculture and the quality of production so as to bridge the food gap.
As the appeal stressed the need to adopt alternative policies of the Bank's policies after the economic crisis that produced the recent breach of security, social balance and violated the rights of human beings in most countries of the world, including Egypt, through the application of World Bank policies named economic freedom and this project is to complement those policies, as illustrated in the following:
· The project area has many farms which form part of the economic base and contribute to the productivity of agricultural development in Egypt, but this does not prevent it adopted in the reclamation of the area groundwater, which belongs to all Egyptians, which ultimately affected the validity of the water in the region and also does not prevent so that we are working to protect the economic base, but again without damaging the water resource and the rights of small farmers in the northern Delta owners of small farms.
· The government act as a guarantor of those projects, although older investors to benefit from the project just as well as environmental and social impacts and economic impacts as the Ministry of the Environment and the government agency with jurisdiction in the control of these projects did not participate in the design, studies and signing ... We do not know how the Government of the role of guarantor of businessmen and farm owners without participating and have visited specialized in environmental control in these stages?
· It is also a violation of the law by the state, represented by all segments of society the obligation to repay a loan which will only benefit investors but it will lead to damage to other categories
· The project will help in promoting the philosophy of continuing to apply "the policy of fait accompli" in spite of failure and causing the economic crisis doubled the number of poor and worsened the situation of human rights. Correspondences, where he was in the bank to center of the earth because of fears of damage to the project on small farmers that (urbanization is a reality that has been going on for years) and although the project was - as professed the study - a product to provide irrigation water because of the constant infringement on its soil agriculture in the Delta and the continuation of this infringement in the future!!! how can we apply policies that help to break the law as a fait accompli.
The center's appeal requests to modify the application of the project as to avoid all this damage through the water for the project from the Land Bank Alrhaoy near the project lands, with the work of modern desalination plants for water disinfection at the gates of the bank and will provide an opportunity to address the negative effects resulting from the discharge of the Bank Alrhaoy River Nile water, which lead to loss of fish and injuring people with kidney failure and set-aside land of the delta on the side of the River Nile.
The amendment of the tide waters of the western delta of the Rosetta Branch to the Bank will provide Alrhaoy Nile water irrigation smallholder farmers in North Delta and provides many costs of the project and plan of the Ministry of Irrigation, because we will not be in need to build a pumping station on the Rosetta Branch compensatory and thus will not deprive small farmers their shares in the water to irrigate land and the old private ownership along the Nubariya. and also reduce the execution time, especially as the bank close to the project lands.
LCHR calls upon the institutions of civil society and members of the People's Assembly and the peasants in the northern Delta to request for solidarity intervention with the Center's demands to guarantee the interests and the rights of small farmers in safe farming and decent living.
For more information, please contact the Center