CAIRO: Thirty-two families of Kafr El-Elew, Helwan, demonstrated outside the Ministers’ Council Monday in another step in a five-month housing battle against the government.
The case began in Oct. 17, 2007 when 32 families were forced out of their homes by security troops.
“It was five in the morning, Abdul Salam Sadiq told Daily News Egypt, “we were still sleeping. They told us to get out of our houses, and we hadn’t had any prior warning. We could either get out or be swept away with the houses.
“We are now living in the streets. We have nowhere to go. We made tents for ourselves but security officers come everyday and harass us. My children are dirty, we have nowhere to wash and we are plagued by insects.
We have made complaint after complaint, report after report but no one answers us, and no one wants to listen to us. We have raised a case, but it will take one or two years before any judgment is reached. What will we do in the meantime?
Lawyers from both the Housing Rights Center and the Nadime Center are working on behalf of the families to try and secure their futures.
“This is legally their land, Haitham Muhamadein of Nadime Center told Daily News Egypt, “they have legal documents proving they purchased the land and families were in the process of applying for electricity and running water when their houses were removed.
“The land was originally part of the agricultural reform of Nasser’s era, and was given to farmers, who later sold it to the current owners in procedures which are all above board. But now they are taking back the land as government land and using it to expand the Helwan water station located next to the former community.
“We presented a report to the Deputy General in January 2008, and a complaint to the People’s Assembly on Jan. 30. The families tried to deliver a report to Suzanne Mubarak on Feb. 21 but government security forces prevented them.
Muhamadein continued saying, “Suzanne Mubarak was visiting Helwan to open a cultural library, and the families saw this as an opportunity to approach her directly in her capacity as a charitable figure. However, they faced violence and harassment from security.
“One person suffered a broken ankle and was taken to a hospital, however, the police refused to do an investigation, and when they did, they said it had been caused by a fight over a bread kiosk in Kafr El-Elew. There aren’t any bread kiosks in Kafr El-Elew. We took it to the General Deputy, and it’s now an open report, but I’m not optimistic. Security often bribes former convicts to act as thugs so they themselves cannot be brought to justice.
However, while these cases continue, families remain homeless, living in make-shift tents. “I have three unmarried sons, the oldest is 32, Zafr Nasr Zeid told Daily News Egypt. “We had a communal charity running so we could build a house for him and his fiancée, but now this is all ruined, and the house has been destroyed. We can’t afford the new rents, I don’t know what will happen to us, we just want four walls to live in.
