The Ministry of Transitional Justice adopted on Tuesday a decree of the formation of a high committee that would draft a law relocating citizens from Nuba region to the old lands they were obliged to evacuate for the construction of the High Dam in Aswan.
The decision came after community talks held with Nubians as per directives by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
The new committee comprises representatives from the state and the Nubian community.
Official sources said the committee will work on an integrated draft law that would seek development at the Nuba region, taking into consideration its cultural and environmental patterns. The committee is given 50 days to finish its works.
The Nubian population have been struggling to relocate to the region near Lake Nasser they were obliged to evacuate under late leader Gamal Abdel Nassr in the 1960s to pave the way for the construction of the High Dam, Egypt's biggest undertaking at the time. The former regime of president Hosni Mubarak had kicked off the Wadi Kurkur project as a response to rising Nubian demands for relocation.
But Nubians defied the choice, citing Wadi Kurkur's remoteness from the Nile and the unavailability of its lands for agriculture.They had staged a number of demonstrations following the January 2011 uprising to press for their cause.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
