2017 in numbers: Egyptian projects in Hala’ib, Shalateen

CAIRO – 23 December 2017: The Comprehensive Development Projects Program led by the Ministry of Agriculture is dedicated to the raising of living standards and constructing development projects in the south of the Red Sea governorate, specifically in Hala’ib, Shalateen, and Abou Ramad.

The Comprehensive Development Projects Program sent a report to Egypt Today that outlines the numbers and types of projects they are undertaking in the aforementioned three cities.


A Bedouin camel market in Shalateen, Nov. 29, 2006 - Wikimedia/Nikswieweg

“The program aims to aid communities that are suffering of poverty and fragility by supporting the social institutions and encouraging self-sufficiency. This is done through, for example, preparing and fertilizing farm lands and constructing a new irrigation system and even roads,” Ali Hazeen, the head of the Comprehensive Development Projects program said to Egypt Today.

The program is not exclusive to supplementing financial needs; it also encompasses hosting training rounds for locals to help cultivate in them the skills needed for a profession, according to Hazeen.

Egypt Today has compiled the projects in numbers below for easy briefing.

In Shalateen:


Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, president of Sudan, sits in the Plenary Hall of the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 12th African Union Summit Feb. 2, 2009 - Wikimedia/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist

Abou Sa’afa Valley lies 150 kilometers away from Shalateen’s center and is an area surrounded with mountains.

In Abou Sa’afa Valley, the following projects were completed:

1. 28 Bedouin families were settled in 28 wooden houses
2. 5 wells were rehabilitated
3. 15 greenhouses were built
4. Training rounds were held for farmers; 10 farmers attended and were compensated LE 15 for their transportation costs

In Abou Deif Valley: which lies about 170 kilometers away from the center of Shalateen, and is a desert area surrounded with mountains…

1. 12 Bedouin families were settled in 10 wooden houses
2. 1 well is also being rehabilitated
3. 15 greenhouses are under construction

Developing the health sector in Abou Sa’fa and Abou Deif:

1. LE 93,703.20 worth of medications and medical supplies were supplemented
2. A delegation of medical personnel encompassing doctors and nurses was sent to help treat patients in those valleys and villages
3. In Shalateen, 2,000 cattle heads were numbered and branded costing LE 110,000
4. 2,000 cattle were vaccinated costing LE 89,500
In terms of veterinary needs:
5. Veterinary delegations and medications costing LE 88,149.05 were sent
6. A sonar machine and other veterinary equipment costing LE 51,480 were supplemented
7. LE 28,765 worth of syringes and saline were supplemented
8. 7 tons of bran wheat were purchased
9. 10 tons of hay were purchased

Abraq Valley: lies 140 kilometers away from Shalateen and is a mountainous area as well, and some 30 families take up residence in the valley, and has a natural water spring as well.

The program has built 2 greenhouses upon request from the local unit.

In Hala’ib and Abou Ramad:

The report indicated that their highest accomplishment in both regions was their introduction of training programs for women who support their households financially. Three training rounds were conducted in both Shalateen and Abou Ramad to teach women hand weaving, embroidery, and leather handling. The program has now expanded to encompass 15 training rounds with 213 participating women.

The Dispute over Hala’ib and Shalateen

:

Earlier on Saturday, media outlets reported Sudan's Foreign Ministry’s rejection to the maritime border demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, threatening to address the issue at the United Nations.

Egypt asserted complete rejection of the Sudanese reports and announced it would deliver a letter to the UN Secretariat protesting Sudan’s sovereignty allegations over Hala’ib and Shalateen, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zeid said on Thursday.


FILE - President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi meets Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir.

Hala’ib and Shalateen, or the Hala’ib Triangle, is an area of land measuring 20,580 square kilometers, located at the Egyptian-Sudanese border on the Red Sea coast. It is part of the Red Sea governorate and consists of three major towns – Hala'ib (which became a city in February 2014), Abou Ramad and Shalateen.

The area belongs to Egypt politically and administratively, but has been one of the major sticking points in Egyptian-Sudanese relations since the demarcation of borders between the two countries carried out during the British occupation of Egypt in 1899, at a time when Sudan was part of the Egyptian Kingdom.

The issue drew attention after Hala'ib and Shalateen declared electoral constituency in both Sudan and Egypt in 2014.

Sudan allegedly made military moves near Hala'ib and Shalateen on the Egypt-Sudan border in March. The move came weeks after a televised interview with Saudi satellite channel Al-Arabiya, in which Sundanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, threatened to resort to the U.N. Security Council to give its settlement over its claimed sovereignty over the triangle.

After the signing of an agreement delineating the maritime border between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in April 2016, Sudan raised the issue once again, demanding Egypt either engage in direct negotiations over the area or take the issue to international arbitration. Cairo rejected the proposal and stressed that the triangle is Egyptian territory and that it will not negotiate or resort to international arbitration on the matter.

According to Al Arabiya Institute for Studies, the Sudanese administration of Hala'ib and Shalateen was temporary and neither grants Sudan the right to rule the area, nor denies Egypt's sovereignty over any part of the territory.

Egypt affirms that it has never concluded any international treaties or agreements, whether with Britain or Sudan, to give international status to the demarcation of administrative borders.

The largest tribes inhabiting the Hala'ib Triangle, including Rashaida, Alababdeh and Bashaira, who rejected the Sudanese National Election Commission's decision granting people in Hala'ib the right to participate in Sudanese general elections. The three tribes asserted during their participation in the 6th October War victory celebration in 2009 that the area is 100 percent Egyptian.

Wanted: Omar Bashir

:

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday accused some of its members, including Jordan, Uganda and Chad of undermining the tribunal's reputation and credibility by refusing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir under charges of genocide and war crimes in Darfur, AP reported.

In July 2010, the ICC issued a second arrest warrant for Bashir under charges of genocide that followed his role in a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur.

The court announced that Bashir was already wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, however, the new charges are in addition to the earlier ones, not instead of them.

On March 2009, the ICC issued the first warrant against Bashir, it was the first time an arrest warrant is issued against a current head of state.

Bashir, on the other hand, appeared to be sticking out his tongue at the International Law by appearing in public while dancing and singing during a rally in Kharoum after the first warrant was issued.

"A white man's tribunal," Bashir's information minister at the time announced as he dismissed the charges.

The original ICC warrant included charges of murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape as he deliberately directed attacks against civilians.

The United Nations estimated that around 300,000 people were killed in the conflict in Darfur, while 2.5 million were displaced.

Additional reporting done by Mohamed Abdel Maguid and Mohamed Zain.