From Community Participation to Forced Eviction in the Maspero Triangle

Source: The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Author(s): Omnia Khalil

Original Link: https://timep.org/commentary/from-community-participation-to-forced-eviction-in-the-maspero-triangle/

Early one morning during Ramadan in September 2008, a mass of rock collapsed in the Cairo neighborhood of Dewe’a, leaving more than 130 people dead under the rubble. The devastation was such that the government was unable to retrieve the bodies for burial, and immediately decided to establish a unit responsible for issues related to so-called “slums.” The Informal Settlement Development Fund (ISDF) was established and began to work late 2008, starting with relocating all residents of unsafe areas nationally. Following international criteria set by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (U.N.-Habitat), the ISDF classified more than 400 areas as unsafe, based on four degrees of threats: location in a flood pathway, unsuitable shelter conditions, area health risks, and instability of tenure. Among these areas was the Maspero Triangle neighborhood, located in southern Bulaq Abulella district, because of unsuitable living conditions.

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