{"id":16799,"date":"2026-09-23T18:58:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T16:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=16799"},"modified":"2026-10-07T02:55:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T00:55:59","slug":"damietta-eviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/damietta-eviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Half a Century of Residence and Documented Contracts Fail to Shield 350 Damietta Spinning Families from Eviction Notices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Approximately 350 families living in the Damietta Spinning and Weaving Company\u2019s housing face eviction after more than half a century of residence. In August 2026, Egyptian Post delivered formal notices instructing them to leave units owned by the public-business-sector company, known as Damiatex.<\/p>\n

The residents include retired workers, their wives and their children. They say they hold officially documented, open-ended rental contracts, some dating to 1998, and have regularly paid rents that rose from approximately EGP 19.56 to EGP 250. They also say the buildings were financed through a workers\u2019 mutual-benefit fund deducted from salaries as part of the company\u2019s social welfare system.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, residents posted appeals on social media<\/a> to Damietta Governor Hossam El Din Fawzy Abdel Fattah Abu Seif, the Public Business Sector Ministry, the Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning, Weaving and Clothing, and Damiatex\u2019s management. They sought a halt to eviction after decades of service and settlement in housing associated with the company inaugurated by former president Gamal Abdel Nasser on 6 May 1960.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Mohamed, a pseudonym for a resident whose father worked at the factory, says the homes were built in the 1960s alongside the spinning and weaving plant. Engineers, technicians and workers came from other governorates because the required specialisations were not available locally, necessitating accommodation.<\/p>\n

The governorate allocated adjacent land for 23 residential blocks, he says. Workers helped finance construction through monthly contributions to the mutual-benefit fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was among the company\u2019s earliest workers,\u201d he tells Zawia3. He says approximately 350\u2013400 engineers, technicians and workers were called to Sinai during the 1967 war and the War of Attrition, suspending production until 1974. The plant subsequently expanded output of textiles and Egyptian long-staple cotton for export through the mid-1970s and 1980s, before later dismantling and selling parts of its assets and land.<\/p>\n

According to Ahmed, management sued residents in the 1990s in an attempt to evict them. The governor reviewed their papers and concluded rental contracts in June 1998, at a nominal monthly rent of approximately EGP 19.56 payable to the company.<\/p>\n

He says the contracts residents possess prohibit surrender or eviction of the units and extend residence rights to the fourth generation. Payments gradually rose from approximately EGP 20, and subsequent old-rent increases were applied. Yet in August the company began sending notices to families who had lived there for roughly five decades.<\/p>\n

\n

Ahmed disputes that the buildings require demolition or evacuation. There are 23 five-storey blocks, maintained and in good condition, he says. He asks for a Housing Ministry inspection to assess buildings accommodating approximately 360 families, most of them elderly. This is a resident\u2019s estimate, alongside the approximately 350 families cited at the start of the report.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hanan Gad\u2019s mother, another resident for more than half a century, also received an August notice requiring her to leave without an alternative home being provided. Her late husband worked at the company for decades.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy father died around 16 years ago after spending more than 50 years working at Damietta Spinning,\u201d Hanan tells Zawia3. \u201cMy mother is approaching 90, is elderly and unable to walk, and still lives in one of the flats. She was recently surprised by an eviction notice, like the other residents.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hanan says her mother has an open-ended rental contract with monthly payments, as do other families. She fears what eviction would mean given her mother\u2019s age, health and dependence on others for care.<\/p>\n

Residents see their uninterrupted water, electricity, gas, waste collection and other services as evidence of established residence. Hanan urges the government, governorate and other authorities to examine their circumstances and provide appropriate alternative homes if they cannot remain.<\/p>\n

\"Postal
Postal notification of an eviction letter received by a Damietta Spinning housing resident on 25 August 2026 (Original document in Arabic; its relevant contents are explained in the English text.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/svg><\/div>\n

A Documented Lease and an Archive Describing Ownership<\/h2>\n

Zawia3 obtained a rental contract for a unit in the company housing. It was made between the Damietta governor, acting as chair of the Industrial Services board and landlord, and a tenant, for private residential use under specified conditions.<\/p>\n

The handwritten commencement date is 1 January 1998. The contract gives an end date and provides renewal for an equivalent period unless either party sends a registered letter at least three months before the expiry of the original or renewed term.<\/p>\n

Monthly rent is EGP 19.56, payable at the start of each calendar month. The tenant must also pay 2.5% of the rent towards periodic building repairs and bear water and electricity costs.<\/p>\n

The tenant acknowledges inspection of the unit and its suitability, undertakes to maintain it and observe rental conditions, and may not alter, demolish, build, remove structures or erect internal walls without the owner\u2019s consent and the permits required by building laws.<\/p>\n

The contract states that breach terminates the agreement immediately, with the tenant liable for rent for the remaining term, restoration of the unit and resulting compensation.<\/p>\n

It also provides automatic termination without notice if a rental instalment is late, and prohibits subletting or assignment of all or part of the unit. Tenants must undertake repairs attributable to tenancy at their own expense; other repairs fall to the landlord. Ordinary courts in the area where the property is located have jurisdiction over disputes about implementation or interpretation.<\/p>\n

\"Rental
Rental contract for a residential unit in Damietta Spinning and Weaving Company housing (Original document in Arabic; its relevant contents are explained in the English text.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By contrast, a national newspaper report dated 12 May 1998 described then-governor Ahmed Sultan signing ownership contracts for workers\u2019 flats in exchange for land provided by the governorate. It said the arrangement sought to prevent displacement after final judgments ordering 236 retired workers out of administrative housing, out of approximately 2,000 workers living in the company\u2019s accommodation.<\/p>\n

According to the archived report, the company offered to pay the governorate EGP 5 million for the land beneath the housing, provided workers and families left. The governor rejected this and proposed replacement land for new administrative housing for incoming workers who had been intended to occupy the retired workers\u2019 units.<\/p>\n

The governor stipulated clear, advance rules for the new housing so families would not face eviction after a lifetime of service. The company\u2019s then-chairman, engineer Ahmed Abu Touq, agreed, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n

\n

The rental document obtained by Zawia3 and the newspaper\u2019s account of ownership contracts leave an unresolved question: are residents long-term tenants or owners? The actual legal relationship has direct implications for the legitimacy of eviction. Residents\u2019 descriptions of open-ended rights should therefore be read alongside the renewal clauses and the different archival account, rather than treated as a settled finding of ownership.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"National
National newspaper report of 12 May 1998 describing the governor\u2019s signing of workers\u2019 flat ownership contracts in exchange for governorate land (Original document in Arabic; its relevant contents are explained in the English text.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/svg><\/div>\n

Disputes Over Employee Housing<\/h2>\n

Damia\u00adtta MP Diaa El Din Dawood rejects the handling of the residents and the notices, citing their decades of residence and their families\u2019 history with the plant and governorate.<\/p>\n

The factory was important to Egypt\u2019s textile industry and Damietta\u2019s industrial and export base, he says. State factories established during that period often provided employee housing, known as service-linked accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamietta was not originally a governorate known for spinning and weaving,\u201d Dawood tells Zawia3. Workers and specialists were brought from Gharbia, Cairo, Helwan and elsewhere; many settled permanently in Damietta.<\/p>\n

Most current residents are workers\u2019 children who grew up in these buildings, he adds. Some original workers have died, leaving wives and children in their homes. Families have lived in the area for 40 or 50 years.<\/p>\n

\n

Dawood questions the basis for removing them after so long. He says he will not support evicting residents with a genuine link to the factory or workers\u2019 families established there for decades.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He places the dispute within wider problems over housing stability and service-linked accommodation in several governorates, where companies and workers\u2019 families have contested continuing residence rights. Damietta also has complicated land-ownership arrangements, including historical endowment land.<\/p>\n

The issue is part of a recurring pattern in accommodation previously provided by the state or companies, he says. Different circumstances must be distinguished, particularly those of former workers, their families and children whose residence is tied to the factory\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Dawood promises to use parliamentary oversight tools, including an information request at the beginning of the House\u2019s second session in October, to discuss residents\u2019 circumstances and monitor the measures taken.<\/p>\n

At the time of reporting, Damiatex, the holding company and the Public Business Sector Ministry had issued no comment or statement explaining the notices\u2019 legal basis or the availability of alternative housing.<\/p>\n

Between eviction notices and rental documents held since 1998, questions remain about the company\u2019s legal and administrative grounds for requiring departure after decades, and whether the notices follow new decisions or judgments or a change in the housing\u2019s status or ownership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 350 families in Damietta Spinning company housing received eviction notices despite decades of residence and documented contracts, while the legal basis and alternative housing remain unexplained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[390],"tags":[],"kateb":[1550],"class_list":["post-16799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights","kateb-aya-yasser"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/\u062f\u0645\u064a\u0627\u0637.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16800,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16799\/revisions\/16800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16799"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=16799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}