CAIRO — It’s been 51 years since the Nubians were displaced from their land of origin, after the Aswan High Dam waters flooded more than 60 of their villages in 1964. Back then, the Egyptian government was determined to relocate everyone during the dam construction and said that they could go back to their villages once the construction of the dam was complete. Yet the government has not met its promise so far, said Ashraf Osman, head of the Nubia Supreme Council, in an interview with Al-Monitor.
Under the rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian government embarked on the construction of the High Dam and the Aswan High Dam Reservoir in order to protect Egypt from the risk of flooding from the Nile River and to generate electricity. These achievements came, however, at the expense of the more than 135,000 Nubians who had been displaced from their land where they had lived for thousands of years.
The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 meters (2.38 miles) long, 40 meters (131 feet) wide, and 111 meters (364 feet) high above the Nile River bed. It can generate 10 billion kilowatt-hours annually and has a spillway capacity of 11,000 cubic meters (2.9 million gallons) per second.
The Nubians consider themselves marginalized and isolated in society, providing as proof the neglect by the media, which do not defend them or speak of their cause to resettle in their villages. On July 10, the Nubians held a sit-in on the Journalists Syndicate stairs, where they raised banners that read “No to racism,” “I am a Nubian and I am proud” and “Nubia is the origin of Egypt.” They also raised pictures of some famous Nubian spots, which point to their authenticity and civilization. They demanded the issuance of express provisions criminalizing any racial discourse against any social category, based on color, gender, race or social status. Moreover, they called for the need to introduce Nubian history to the school curriculum, from primary school to university, in order to teach society about the importance, customs and traditions of Nubian civilization and put an end to racist attacks against them.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
