Special Report from Sinai
On October 29, 2014, the first phase of the buffer zone in the Egyptian city of Rafah, located on the farthest border with the Gaza Strip, began with the demolition and explosion of homes adjacent to the border area. This process continued through five phases, eventually clearing an area of about five kilometers.
These actions, carried out by the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces, had a severe impact on the Egyptian residents of the border town of Rafah. Families were displaced, and thousands of homes and farms they owned along the border were destroyed. Egyptian Rafah was demolished, and its residents were ultimately evacuated under the pretext of combating terrorism and ensuring national security. Similar actions occurred in parts of North Sinai, such as Sheikh Zuwaid. No official statements have been released regarding the number of residents displaced from these areas.
But Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 100,000 Sinai residents have been displaced from their homes since 2013.
While there are no official data on the number of displaced residents from Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid, Human Rights Watch reported that the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights shared leaked official data showing that 41,000 people were displaced from Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid as of October 2018.
In 2014, then-Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued Decision No. (1957) of 2014, published in the Official Gazette, which isolated areas in Rafah on the northeastern strategic direction of North Sinai Governorate. The decision also stipulated the evacuation of residents from these areas and their compensation with alternative areas. If residents did not comply voluntarily, their properties would be forcibly seized, and they would be compensated according to the provisions of the General Mobilization Law, Presidential Decree No. (2152) of 1960, and Decree No. (540) of 1987.
The issue of compensation remains a challenge for the residents of Rafah to this day. Hundreds of them have filed complaints with the Egyptian authorities about the compensation they have not yet received for their demolished homes, which they consider inadequate. According to their conversations with Zawia3’s correspondent in Sinai, some families migrated to other cities, such as Al-Arish and Bir Al-Abd, while many families moved to the west of the canal and settled in informal settlements and shacks in the town of Qantara West in Ismailia Governorate after being forcibly displaced from their lands, where they had lived for decades.
According to the General Mobilization Law referenced in the Prime Minister’s decision, Article (24) stipulates measures for the administrative authorities to seize food, textiles, energy materials, real estate, or occupy shops, for the war effort. This law, No. (87) of 1960, also outlines in Article (25) the means of compensation for those whose commercial or real estate properties were seized. If the seizure involved products, materials, or vehicles, compensation would be based on the product’s price at the time of seizure, regardless of the anticipated profit for the owner. For real estate and occupied shops, compensation would be determined based on the invested capital’s interest and the current market price, not exceeding the net profits of the year preceding the seizure.
Have the Displaced Received Their Compensation?
Kamal Al-Sha’ar, a resident of Rafah, explains to Zawia3 what has been happening: “After our homes in Rafah were demolished, the Egyptian authorities decided to compensate the residents. However, the amount allocated for compensation per square meter of residential units was not entirely fair, set at around 800 Egyptian pounds ($16.59) per square meter, and concrete buildings around 1200 pounds ($24.89), which is the same amount decided for the five phases that began their first phase in 2014. According to his description, this amount was set in 2014 based on the price of a ton of reinforced steel, which was estimated at around 4000 pounds ($82.92) per ton.
Al-Sha’ar adds: “It’s well known what inflation has done over the past period, raising the price of one ton to record levels. Since we haven’t received compensation yet, we demand that the Egyptian government re-evaluate the compensation to ensure justice and equality among the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth phase residents.”
He explains that for independent residential units known as Bedouin houses, the buildings received as specified in the Rafah City Council’s receipt records ranged from 58 to 72 square meters. The compensation does not include additions in the front or back yards considered part of the home’s total area as per the city council’s receipt report.
In the same context, Mokhtar Mostafa Al-Gabour, a displaced resident from Rafah, describes their difficult situation: “We used to live in Rafah, and now we beg for our rights from the Egyptian government. At the same time, we only get unfulfilled promises, but we will not stop demanding compensation for our homes and farms.”
He continues: “My three-story house was demolished, and my land, which had a well that produced fresh water, was confiscated. It contained all kinds of fruits and over 22 types of fruit-bearing trees and aromatic herbs.”
The only official statistics on the number of displaced people were obtained by our correspondent in Sinai from the North Sinai Governorate’s media office in August 2016 – not published in the media – estimating 12,861 individuals displaced, distributed over 68 clusters in Al-Arish, Bir Al-Abd, and Al-Hasana, totaling 5,324 families. North Sinai Governor Abdel Fattah Harhour stated in 2015 that the announced plan involved removing approximately 1,220 houses, housing 2,044 families, with the families receiving around 1,500 Egyptian pounds as a government contribution for renting alternative homes until the compensation is issued.
An investigative report published by the ARIJ platform in 2022 shows that from 2014 to 2021, expropriation decisions in Egypt rose to about 23 decisions by March 2021, affecting approximately 34,000 citizens. The year 2014, when the demolitions began in Rafah, saw the highest number of affected individuals, reaching around 8,706 citizens.
Shacks Occupied by Displaced People
Along the international road (Al-Arish – Qantara), dozens of shacks are scattered on both sides, all occupied by displaced people who left their homes, farms, and villages in Rafah since 2014. The displacement has continued since then. Ismail Al-Ba’ira described the idea of leaving the city where he was born and lived as “difficult and harsh,” especially amid the poverty caused by the lack of compensation and the destruction of their farms that provided their livelihood. He says: “Our bond with the land as Bedouins is very strong; it’s hard to forget it even if we live in palaces.”
Sameer Al-Qambuz, a resident of the border area in Rafah, confirms that even after ten years of President Sisi’s decision to demolish the city, residents still suffer from not receiving compensation for their lands and homes, which contributed to their impoverishment after they used to earn substantial amounts from their farms, providing a decent living.
According to the residents we spoke to, they have spent all their savings to secure alternative homes, either in neighboring governorates or in western Al-Arish, as the authorities have left them without compensation to this day.
The residents have demanded compensation from the state, but the North Sinai Governorate, according to them, is stalling, forming regular committees without reaching a resolution. They claim that some committees force residents with large properties worth tens of millions of pounds to write acknowledgments that their lands contained tunnels to Gaza to negotiate lower compensation amounts.
Rafah is the last Egyptian point on the border with the Gaza Strip, named after the ancient Egyptian city of Rafia. The city consists of old Rafah and its extensions, and the Imam Ali neighborhood, and includes 11 villages in Rafah Center: (Abu Shanar, Al-Mutla, Al-Hussainat, Al-Khirafin, Al-Wefaq, Al-Tayra, Al-Mahdiya, Naga Shabana, Juz Abu Ra’ad, Kilometer 21, and Al-Barth).
The Egyptian authorities consider establishing the buffer zone along 14.50 kilometers will provide better monitoring of the border area with Gaza, preventing the use of tunnels to transport weapons or the infiltration of militants from Palestinian territories in Gaza into the Egyptian border city of Rafah.
Saadi Zaarab, one of the displaced, says: “My siblings and I owned eight houses, in addition to a plot of land about 23 feddans in size. It was located at the end of the second phase of demolitions in Rafah and was handed over to the army in 2015. We relocated to Al-Arish.”
He adds: “They told us at the North Sinai Governorate’s office that we had to wait for compensation from the Directorate of Agriculture. We kept following up, and in April 2023, the governorate announced in a statement that anyone entitled to compensation should go to the Directorate to complete the paperwork and inspect the land.”
Sadi continues: “I went and provided copies of the documents and the land inspection was done via computer to verify the ownership, as we have an official contract. They told us they would send the documents to the governorate for review and compensation.
“We continued following up with the financial affairs department at the governorate, but there has been no progress so far, while we live in harsh conditions after losing our lands, which have now become barren.”
With great anger, Mohamed Jamil says that favoritism and attaching accusations to some families deprive them of the appropriate compensation that ensures a decent life. He continues with regret, “The authorities stole our rights by imposing a law that prevents compensation for those whose homes were found to contain tunnels, which led to the injustice of many residents and deprived them of their compensation, challenging the credibility of the inspections issued by the authorities.”
Human Rights Watch condemned the ongoing demolitions between 2014 and 2018. According to their report, at least 3,000 homes and commercial buildings were demolished from 2014 to the end of 2017, while about 600 buildings were demolished in January 2018 alone. Between February and May of the same year, the military launched a major campaign that resulted in the demolition of about 3,000 homes and buildings, and hundreds of hectares of agricultural land were cleared over an area of about 12 kilometers during the same period. Additionally, around 100 small home clusters north of Al-Arish International Airport in southern Rafah were destroyed, along with 400 Bedouin homes.
Commenting, Salem Abdel Aziz, a lawyer in the Court of Cassation and the Supreme Constitutional Court and an expert in housing legislation, says, “Public utility is a matter determined by the constitution, and it is the only situation where private property can be expropriated. However, private property is protected according to the constitution and must be safeguarded.”
He believes there is an issue between private ownership and public utility, which has been resolved through the Law of Expropriation for Public Utility. But recently, the increase in investment projects and the expansion and establishment of roads and axes have led to the infringement on many private properties of citizens.
Abdel Aziz stresses that this has become a social problem, affecting social stability and the legal right to ownership for many groups. He explains that the matter should have been studied more deeply by the state to understand the repercussions of such measures, which affect the stability of property owners.
The housing expert points out that sudden expropriation causes a shock to those whose properties are expropriated, as they are forced to change their entire lifestyle. He adds, “A citizen might be satisfied with upward housing mobility, which means living in a better place, but social discontent increases if the mobility is downward or at the same level.”
He emphasizes that every expropriation for public utility has economic and social costs borne by the citizen because it takes a long time to adapt to the new situation. Furthermore, the compensation provided to citizens should be appropriate, satisfactory, and rewarding.
From a legal perspective, Abdel Aziz confirms that ownership is a constitutional right that must be protected according to international charters. He clarifies that the legal settlement of compensation does not represent genuine recompense that allows the citizen to obtain suitable housing. Therefore, these matters must be considered to preserve citizens’ acquired legal rights and the social dimension of the right to housing.
He concludes by emphasizing the need to balance the state’s right to public utility and the citizen’s right to legal possession since housing is considered legal possession. Suitable alternative housing must be provided to citizens before the demolition process because coercion represents a form of social oppression, turning the law from a tool of social order to one of oppression.
On her part, Aida El-Sewarka, a member of the House of Representatives for the Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah constituency, confirms that she has received numerous written and oral complaints during her field visits to areas where the displaced from Rafah live in Al-Arish, Bir Al-Abd, and Ismailia. She describes their living conditions as modest and, in some cases, very poor, lacking the essential requirements of living.
She adds that she previously submitted several requests on behalf of the Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah constituency, listing the names of citizens to the former North Sinai Governor, Major General Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha. However, he did not respond directly to the demands for compensation, shifting the responsibility to the executive authorities, claiming they were completing the paperwork for compensation payments. She renewed the demand with the new North Sinai Governor, Major General Khaled Mogahed, submitting a file of documents containing citizens’ requests for speedy compensation payments.
In contrast, North Sinai Governor Major General Khaled Mogahed confirms that the compensation file is extensive and complex, requiring citizens to obtain several documents from various government agencies to ensure no outstanding debts to those entities, including water, electricity, housing, agriculture, and property tax companies. Additionally, the inspection committees must verify the properties and lands, which takes a long time.
Governor Mogahed tells Zawia3: “We are currently working to complete this file, and every citizen will receive their rights.”
