CAIRO — Fifty years after the course of the Nile River was diverted for the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the people of Nuba in southern Egypt are still demanding the right to return and resettle on the banks of Lake Nasser. They were displaced when the dam project flooded their lands and villages in 1964, a harsh blow to Nubian heritage and culture in Egypt.

Last month, the Egyptian government celebrated the 50th anniversary of the diversion of the Nile and the start of construction on the Aswan High Dam on May 14, 1964. However, the government did not address the Nubian issue or resettle the people of Nuba on the banks of Lake Nasser, following unfulfilled promises since the era of the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The first Nubian village to be relocated was Daboud in 1963. The displacement process ended in 1964 with the diversion of the course of the Nile.

Nubian writer Hagag Adul told Al-Monitor, "The lack of any talk about the rights of Nubians during the celebrations marking the anniversary of the High Dam is a strong indicator that this issue is being ignored again."

Adul had raised the Nubian issue internationally when he spoke about racist practices and "cleansing" of Nubians in Washington in 2005. He said, "The right to return to the Nubian environment on the banks of the Nile is the basis of our demands. We were not against the construction of the High Dam, but we were against the forced displacement, and Egypt's national security [will benefit] from giving Nubians their rights."