Residents of Arish’s coast face evictions, demolitions amid plans to develop, expand port

On Sunday, bulldozers and heavy machinery were wheeled into Risa, an area in the coastal North Sinai city of Arish, North Sinai, which had been cordoned off and closed over 24 hours prior and watched over by senior security officials and police units. Once there, officials began to evict residents from and demolish private properties, three residents told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

Risa represents one of the areas within 370 feddans of land around the port that was passed into the property of the Armed Forces in 2019 as part of a presidential framework to develop the area. While there is no official count of how many households will be affected by the decision, Arish MP Rahmy Bakir said in a January 2021 briefing request submitted to Parliament that 4,000 families face eviction.

Bulldozers also demolished on Sunday the entirety of the Sinai Star, the Israeli settlement built during the Israeli occupation of Sinai, located in the center of the area chalked for development near the old port of Arish.

The demolition campaign continued on Monday, targeting properties in Risa’s Saad Chalets area, in particular the beach residences that directly overlook the sea coast, another source told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. Unfinished properties and even inhabited units were razed, the source continued, while some other residents, including the source, were given just two days notice to vacate and surrender their homes for demolition.

Police shut down all entrances to the area, prohibiting entry to all except residents and preventing private cars from accessing the area, the same source said, though pick-up vehicles were allowed into the neighborhood if homeowners had requested passage to transport their belongings away. 

After expropriation orders were issued in 2019, residents attempted to petition the concerned authorities, including governorate officials, to halt the project and discuss alternatives. Residents also tried to organize protests on the streets and online to amplify their reach, hoping to attract presidential attention for their cause.

Plans to develop and expand Arish Port are to sweep across the entire eastern coast of Arish, starting from the old port to Skaska, the easternmost area of the city, including Risa, the most prominent tourist hotspot in the North Sinai capital, home to villas and residential buildings that look out to the Mediterranean.

Since last year, the Armed Forces Engineering Authority has built a massive wall along the Arish-Rafah International Road, and in recent months, a coastal area of Risa adjacent to the old port has been closed to the public as heavy machinery increased the depth of the beach. Construction companies contracted by the engineering authority have also constructed another towering wall surrounding Risa, according to a source working on its construction who spoke to Mada Masr previously.

Though several officially appointed committees have inspected and surveyed houses in the area since mid-2019, residents remain in the dark about how they will be compensated.

Two of the sources who spoke to Mada Masr said that security forces ordered them to vacate their homes within days, without any official telling them what compensation they would receive in return for losing their homes.

Kamal Hamada, a resident of the area who owns six chalets overlooking the coast, told Mada Masr that he and other residents have not been told how much they will receive in compensation, while another source likewise said that residents have had conversations among themselves about whether compensation would be in the form of land or alternative properties, but that the government has said nothing officially on the matter.