EGYPT: Fearing Border Protests, Cairo Meets Bedouin Demands

By Adam Morrow Reprint | | Print |

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani

CAIRO, Jul 10 2007 (IPS) - Two months after the Bedouin, an indigenous people of Egypt&#39s Sinai Peninsula began holding angry demonstrations against what they call a policy of official harassment by police, the authorities last week released dozens of tribesmen detained in mass arrests over the last three years.

But while tribal leaders welcomed the move, they still say Cairo must deliver on promises to alleviate the plight of the Sinai Bedouin, who have long complained of discrimination and economic marginalisation at the hands of the state.

"The government has begun to implement the pledges it made to us earlier," Mohamed Abu Ras, chief spokesman for the Sinai Bedouin told IPS. "But if it doesn&#39t continue to keep its promises, we will resume our protests and demonstrations."

In the first week of July, the government made its first tangible concession by releasing 29 tribesmen. "The security directorate of Northern Sinai released 14 Bedouin prisoners yesterday, two days after releasing 15 others," independent daily al-Masri al-Youm reported Jul. 4.

Since 2004, thousands of the Sinai Peninsula&#39s tribal residents have been arrested by police without charge. In October of that year, a triple bomb attack in the Sinai resort town of Taba was followed by the mass detention of local tribesmen accused of complicity in the crime. Subsequent attacks on Sinai tourist destinations in 2005 and 2006 were also followed by the mass arrest of local Bedouin residents.

The government continues to blame the attacks on a shadowy Islamist group Tawhid wa Jihad. Cairo also claims, with relatively little evidence, that the militant group has a number of adherents among the region&#39s tribal inhabitants.

In late April, local Bedouin registered their discontent with the status quo after police in Northern Sinai killed two tribesmen who allegedly tried to evade a police checkpoint. The next day, an estimated 2,000 Bedouin from across the peninsula converged on the Kerem Abu Salem border crossing – precariously located between Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip – to express their outrage.

In this politically charged setting, protestors demanded a halt to police violations against local residents and the release of Bedouin prisoners who had been wrongfully detained. Demonstrators also demanded the economic development of the Sinai Peninsula and more employment opportunities for the local population.

After four days of protests, a deal was struck Apr. 29 between tribal leaders and government representatives, with the latter pledging a measure of redress to longstanding Bedouin grievances. But aside from releasing two detained relatives of the slain men, the government largely failed to deliver on its promises.

On Jun. 14, Bedouin leaders reconvened in the Northern Sinai city of Rafah, where they angrily reiterated their demands. They went on to issue an ultimatum, saying they would return to the sensitive border area if their conditions were not met by Jul. 1.

Cairo, fearing a diplomatic incident at the high-profile border with the Gaza Strip and Israel, quickly signalled its readiness to make concessions. In the last days of June, a security delegation headed by the deputy interior minister was dispatched to negotiate with tribal leaders.

Shortly afterwards, the government announced release of the 29 prisoners, most of whom had been detained without charge since 2004, promising additional releases in the short-term future.

"We are actively studying the cases of the remaining detainees and we will be releasing between 100 and 200 in the coming weeks and months," North Sinai Governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid was quoted as saying.

Abdel-Hamid further promised that Cairo would focus its efforts on the economic development of the impoverished region.

"The government is sparing no effort to hasten the development of Northern and Southern Sinai and the realisation of the demands of its inhabitants," the governor was quoted as saying in the Jul. 5 edition of government daily al-Gomhouriya. He also stated that Cairo had plans to establish investment companies mandated with developing land in Sinai for agricultural projects in hope of creating job opportunities for the area&#39s tribal residents.

In an indication of the issue&#39s importance, even President Hosni Mubarak weighed in on the matter. In the state press, he reiterated his government&#39s pledge to release remaining detainees "within days".

Nevertheless, Hatem al-Buluk, a journalist and resident of Northern Sinai, disparaged Cairo&#39s apparent magnanimity, which he views as a largely tactical response to the problem.

"I&#39m not impressed – the government only released a handful of men who didn&#39t even face charges," he said, estimating the total number of Bedouin detainees still in prison at about 1,200. "They all should have been released a long time ago."

Al-Buluk went on to attribute Cairo&#39s change of heart chiefly to the new security dynamic in the Gaza Strip next door.

"The government just wants to avoid a security headache at the border," he told IPS. "This has become all the more precarious since last month&#39s takeover of the Gaza Strip by (Palestinian resistance faction) Hamas."

But according to Abu Ras, Cairo&#39s new approach to the issue has already led to improvements on the ground.

"The situation in the Sinai has improved noticeably," he said, pointing out that a number of oppressive police checkpoints throughout Northern Sinai had been removed. "We are confident that the government will ultimately address our concerns."

Nevertheless, he added: "But if the government fails to keep its promises, our young men are more than ready to return to the border, where they will continue to press for our demands."

While Buluk agreed that the Bedouin&#39s lot had been improved by the removal of checkpoints, he was less optimistic about the long-term outcome.

"The situation will probably deteriorate again, because the principal actors – namely, the interior ministry and the North Sinai Governorate – are still in charge," he said. "And they are the main reasons for the problem."

The Bedouin of the Sinai Peninsula are estimated at about 380,000, divided into some 26 different tribes. Although most Bedouin now live relatively sedentary lifestyles, they were known until recently for their nomadic way of living and relatively conservative traditions.