Tag: قرصاية

Court rules in favor of Qursaya residents

Posted on By 3arabawy

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.

Rights group skeptical of court’s stance on Qursaya

Posted on By 3arabawy

From the Daily News Egypt:

A rights group representing families from the threatened island of El-Qorsaya has questioned the neutrality of the court hearing the case.
Residents of El-Qorsaya received eviction notices last year, when bulldozers under army protection began work on one side of the island.
Islanders suspect that their homes will make way for a tourist complex or golf course and have responded by challenging the eviction order in a case against four government bodies including the Prime Minister and the governor of Giza.
Hearings in the case began last Sunday, Jan. 13. The Egyptian Center for Housing Rights (ECHR) alleges that the 2nd District Administrative Court, which heard the case, demonstrated clear bias against the islanders.

Qursaya residents skeptical of Ahram report on scrapping mega-project

Posted on By 3arabawy

From the Daily News Egypt…

Residents of the island of El-Qorsaya have vowed to continue their campaign to resist eviction from their homes despite reports published by the state-owned Al Ahram newspaper that plans to build a tourist complex on the island have been scrapped.
According to the report, which appeared on the newspaper’s front page on Wednesday and which is entitled “Government cancels plans for tourist project on El-Qorsaya, upholds residents’ rights,” the Agricultural and Irrigation Committee of the People’s Assembly together with government representatives had decided to cancel plans for the construction of a tourist complex.
The report states that the decision was made after MP Muhammad Aboul Enein and Azab Mostafa made urgent appeals to the Committee about islanders’ fears that they would be expelled from their land.
The article claimed that the government has succeeded in “presenting a model of democracy for the protection of citizens’ rights.”
Artist and El-Qorsaya resident Muhammad Abla is more circumspect.
He told Daily News Egypt, “This report is simply false. This PA committee doesn’t have the authority to make these sorts of decisions, it can only make recommendations.”
He also questioned why the decision had not been reported in any other newspapers, and said that the campaign to save the island would continue until the report is verified.