Egypt orders Nubian High Dam compensation amid community skepticism

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has ordered cash and in-kind compensation for residents who have not yet received restitution for the construction and heightening of the Aswan Reservoir and the building of the High Dam, according to a decree published Sunday in the Official Gazette. 

Three Nubian rights activists told Al Manassa the move is practically a placative policy, that fails to address the core demands recently raised by the community.

The decree's first article grants 44 people affected by the construction and heightening of the Aswan Reservoir — who qualify for in-kind restitution — title to the land on which their homes stand. Most of the plots are located in West Suhail and Al-Sail Al-Rifi.

The same article designates about 133 feddans of agricultural land in the Khorqandi and Wadi Al-Amal areas for distribution to people affected by the construction of the High Dam.

About 86 eligible claimants or their heirs will receive plots under lists appended to the decree, which directs the governor of Aswan to sign the deeds.

Article 2 allocates four housing units to four qualifying individuals displaced by the construction of the High Dam.

Under the accompanying lists, one unit is located in Aswan governorate’s Kom Ombo district and three are in the Borg El Arab Al Gadidah district of Alexandria governorate. The housing ministry will sign the contracts, according to the decision.

Article 3 stipulates that the state treasury will pay eligible claimants or their heirs more than 11 million Egyptian pounds as cash alternatives to agricultural land or housing units. The decision assigns the Aswan governor responsibility for authorizing the disbursements.

Article 5, the final clause, conditions all property transfers and cash disbursements on the claimant submitting an official, certified certificate from the competent administrative authority in Aswan governorate. 

This document must be addressed to the signing or disbursing official and must confirm that the affected person or their heirs have not previously received restitution for damages resulting from the construction and heightening of the Aswan Reservoir or the construction of the High Dam.

In 2019, the prime minister formed a National Committee tasked with compensating Nubian families affected by the construction of the High Dam. The committee was headed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and included ministers and representatives of relevant authorities and agencies.

The committee set the rules and implementation mechanisms for disbursing compensation, drafted ownership contracts for arable land, residential plots, and housing units, and established certificates granting usufruct rights to riverbank lands on which homes stand.

In May 2023, then-Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Counselor Alaa El-Din Fouad said the committee had opened the first phase for eligible claimants to submit their preferences between June 25 and Aug. 20, 2019, followed by a second phase from Jan. 17 to April 30, 2021.

During a cabinet meeting at the time, he said the committee had announced the names of applicants across both phases and their respective allocations, adding that 7,209 claimants had filed preference forms out of 11,500 eligible people.

The decree published Sunday came three days after hundreds of Nubians gathered in the villages of Al-Siyala and Al-Maharraqa for the “Nubian Popular Conference for Reconstruction and Sustainable Development in the New Nubia Areas.”

Two sources who helped organize the Thursday evening conference told Al Manassa that the prime minister’s decision bears no relation to the demands raised by participants.

The first source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the decision as “placative,” intended to calm recently mobilized Nubian youth. Nubians, the source said, have become accustomed to such government maneuvers whenever community mobilization mounts.

The second source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that although the decision appears on its face to provide justice for affected Nubians, the compensation is “meager” in practice. Because the state pays both cash and in-kind reparations based on the original 1960s displaced claimant, individual awards are diluted across numerous living heirs.

Citing a 2019 case where a 250,000-pound cash payout was divided among 13 surviving heirs after the primary beneficiary died, the source added it left each relative with roughly 19,000 pounds.

A third source, who did not attend the conference, likewise called the compensation “pointless” because it is split among dozens of legal heirs.

Participants at the conference reiterated their demand for the enforcement of Article 236 of the Constitution, which states that “the state shall guarantee the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic and urban development plan for border and deprived areas, including Upper Egypt, Sinai, Matrouh and Nubian areas, with their residents participating in development projects and having priority in benefiting from them, while taking into account the cultural and environmental patterns of the local community, within 10 years from the date this Constitution takes effect, as regulated by law.”

Conference participants called for a multidisciplinary committee of specialists, Nubian leaders, youth, and village representatives to craft blueprints for all development projects in historic Nubia and coordinate with state and security authorities.

According to the conference’s final statement, participants also demanded set meeting dates with representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the General Intelligence Service, Military Intelligence, Future of Egypt Authority, and relevant ministries.

The attendees further demanded immediate ownership transfers of housing and commercial units in New Toshka to Nubian youth, the establishment of model villages in historic Nubian areas, and the removal of obstacles hindering local investment. 

Finally, they called for the creation of a higher authority to zone and oversee regional agricultural, mining, and fisheries projects.