Security forces broke up a demonstration by roughly 1500 residents of Cairo’s impoverished Duweiqa district who had attempted to block the capital’s ring road in protest against a government decision to demolish their homes without providing alternative living quarters.
The government had ordered the demolition of unlicensed houses built in the Duweiqa shantytown following a deadly 2008 rock-slide that killed more than 30 residents.
Protesters lined up in front of the Manshaet Nasser Municipality in hopes of obtaining contracts for alternative housing units, which had been promised earlier by the government.
"I’ve been living on the street with my family for a year and a half since the government demolished my house on the pretext that it wasn’t safe," said local resident and protester Ahmed Maarouf. "They had initially promised us a new place in no more than one month."
"But we were informed that the municipal council had adjourned indefinitely," said Ayman Sayed, another protester. "So what are we supposed to do now?"
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
