Constant threat of death for Egypt's poorest
Constant threat of death for Egypt's poorest
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Tuesday, 17, Nov 2009 12:10
By Richard James.
Egypt's poorest are living with the constant threat of being buried alive, a new report has warned.
Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to take immediate steps to protect those living in the capital Cairo in designated "unsafe areas" where they are at risk from rockslides and other natural catastrophes.
The report also castigates the failure by officials to protect the residents of Al-Duwayqa hit by a fatal rockslide in September 2008.
Official reports put the number of people killed in the rockslide at 107, but survivors say casualty numbers were higher and many family members are reportedly still missing.
An official investigation into the disaster has yet to produce any findings, the human rights group Amnesty has claimed, calling on the Egyptian authorities to properly investigate why Al-Duwayqa was not averted and to take steps to ensure that there is no repeat of the tragedy.
Today's publication has also called on local authorities to protect residents' rights to health and adequate housing in 26 so-called "unsafe areas" in Greater Cairo.
Al-Duwayqa is a part of the larger Manshiyet Nasser informal settlement on the slopes of a hill in east Cairo.
The settlement houses about one million people, including some of the country's poorest. The land itself is predominantly government-owned meaning local authorities can order evictions administratively.
Commenting on the ongoing situation in the region, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director Malcolm Smart said: "The tragedy in Al-Duwayqa was a disaster waiting to happen. More could - more should - have been done to avert it and to prevent the loss of life
"The Egyptian authorities owe it to both the victims and those who survived that awful morning, just as they owe it others at risk, to ensure that there is no repetition and that the tragedy of Al-Duwayqa is not played out again in any of Cairo's other 'unsafe areas'.
"Egypt's poor should not have to live any longer with the threat of being buried alive."
Amnesty claims those living in the designated "unsafe areas" now face a double threat of a lack of safety and the constant possibility of eviction.
The group reports how thousands of people were re-housed in light on the 2008 rockslide but were moved without being given any legal tenure and are now liable to future eviction.
Amnesty also suggests other families were forcibly evicted from Al-Duwayqa and other informal settlements in south Cairo in breach of protections under international human rights law.