Sarah Carr reports…
Cairo’s Administrative Court ruled Saturday in favor of residents of an island in Giza who had been threatened with eviction from their homes.
The court verdict quashes a prime ministerial decree which would have removed the roughly 5,000 inhabitants from their homes on El-Qorsaya island.
Many of the roughly 1,000 fishermen and 4,000 farmers who constitute El-Qorsaya’s population have lived on the island for generations since the island was first inhabited in the 19th century.
Last year, bulldozers protected by army troops arrived on El-Qorsaya — which lies in a prime location in Cairo — amid rumors that it would be converted into a tourist complex.
The islanders responded by launching a media campaign against the plans, residents saying that as farmers and fishermen they would be unable to sustain their way of life away from the island.
The court case was launched in 2007.