More than half a century has passed since the displacement of the Nubian people from their land in southern Egypt. This was for the High Dam, which was threatening to submerge dozens of villages located behind it, to be built. Construction began in 1959, and the displacement of Nubian families from their villages to other villages far away from the dam started in 1963.
This was not the first time that the Nubians were driven out of their land for development projects to be built. It began in 1902 with the construction of the Aswan Dam, which led to a higher water level behind the reservoir, inundating and displacing 10 Nubian villages. The second displacement took place during the first overtopping of the Aswan Reservoir in 1912, which caused the water level to rise, submerging eight other villages. This was followed by the reservoir’s second overtopping in 1933, causing 10 other villages to be flooded. During the fourth displacement that took place from Oct. 18, 1963, to June 22, 1964, 18,000 families were moved away with the construction of the High Dam.
