Egypt brings long-awaited compensation to thousands of Nubians
The Egyptian government made a show of providing compensation to thousands of displaced Nubians last month, but they still cling to the hope of returning to their lost land.
The high-profile ceremony Jan. 20 in which thousands of Nubians were officially compensated for their lost land was beyond their dreams. Nevertheless, some are still clinging to the possibility of returning to their ancestral land at Egypt's border with Sudan, no matter how slim this possibility may be.
It's been over a century since Nubians experienced their first displacement in 1902 when the construction of the Aswan Low Dam — currently known as the Aswan reservoir — began and they had to move from their ancient hometown stretched along the banks of the Nile River in southern Egypt. Still others were forced to move in 1912 and 1933, with the heightening waters of the Aswan Low Dam.
