Court rules military should leave Qursaya island

The Administrative Court ordered the Armed Forces to retreat from the Qursaya island on Tuesday, reinstating the residents' right to stay, the state-run EgyNews website reported on Thursday. 

Qursaya island, located in the south of Cairo, is home to some 5000 people who have been in a tense standoff with the state since 2007, when it began trying to evict them for what was believed to be a tourism investment plan. 

A presidential decree issued by former President Hosni Mubarak in 2001 appropriated the land for the Armed Forces. However, the residents managed to reverse the eviction attempt through a court ruling in 2010 that reaffirmed their right to stay. 

Yet violence erupted again last in November when army troops tried to forcibly evict the residents. Many residents were arrested and faced military trials. The army claimed that it already owned the land and that the people there should be evicted. 

Today's court found that the military's control over the island is unlawful since it is considered part of an agricultural plot and the main economic activities of residents are agriculture and fishing. Because it has been found to not be desert, the decision to appropriate desert land for the army by Mubarak is void in this case. 

The court also found that military control over the island violates the protectorates law, as it was declared a protectorate in 1998. A protectorate cannot legally be appropriated by the Armed Forces for any military related activity.