Egypt president pledges improved care for Nubians
Get the News by email
Egypt’s president pledged Wednesday to promote development and care for the Nubians, as criticism to his government’s treatment of Egypt’s ancient but highly marginalized minority mounts.
President Hosni Mubarak, in remarks made after touring Aswan province where many Nubians live, said his government’s plans to relocate many Nubians from their traditional dwellings along the Nile does not entail any ill will toward the population. His comments come as Nubians, fearing displacement, have begun to step up their opposition to the government’s resettlement plans.
Mubarak’s statement is the first by such a high-ranking government official publicly acknowledging the simmering dispute.
In the 1960s Egypt relocated hundreds of thousands of Nubians outside their historic homeland when the newly built Aswan High Dam flooded their traditional homelands.
Under a UNESCO plan, international efforts helped salvage several monuments from flooding including the famed Abu Simbol temple. However, over the years, many Nubians quietly moved back into the area, living along the lake. The government is now trying to relocate them.
Some pro-government media accuse the Nubians of wanting independence.
Nubians are believed to be descendants of an ancient African civilization that flourished in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
Related posts:
