Later, at the entrance of Shalateen, I was baffled by the sheer size of military presence. A large military camp decorates the entrance of Shalateen, together with Mubarak’s face on some statue. All street lamps have been painted with red, white and black, the three colors of the Egyptian flag.

I was stopped again at a military check point. A soldier approached our car. Once again, we were asked about our nationalities, my driving license was taken, its details written down in a notebook, then we were allowed entry.

I wonder what is it like for a member of the Ababda or the Basharis of Shalateen and Halayeb to be “part of this country,” when most of them do not have ID cards and cannot move via those checkpoints. They are effectively under siege, or, to be more accurate, under military occupation.