Egypt: Army intensifies Sinai home demolitions

May 22, 2018 12:00AM EDT

Destroys Homes, Farmland Around 'Buffer Zones'

(Beirut) – The Egyptian army has vastly expanded widespread destruction of homes, commercial buildings, and farms in the North Sinai governorate since February 9, 2018, as part of its military campaign against an affiliate of the Islamic State group there, Human Rights Watch said today. The new destruction, including hundreds of hectares of farmland and at least 3,000 homes and commercial buildings, together with 600 buildings destroyed in January, is the largest since the army officially began evictions in 2014.

The destruction, much of which is likely unlawful, has extended well beyond two government-designated security buffer zones in the cities of al-Arish and Rafah. The army also demolished several homes in al-Arish, in what appears to have been retaliation against terrorism suspects, political dissidents, and their relatives.

"Turning people's homes into rubble is part of the same self-defeating security plan that has restricted food and movement to inflict pain on Sinai residents," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Egyptian army claims it is protecting people from militants, but it's absurd to think that destroying homes and displacing lifelong residents would make them safer."

The demolitions and forced evictions, without judicial oversight and with little or no assistance offered for temporary housing, have exacerbated the negative humanitarian impact caused by army-imposed restrictions on residents of the area, according to local residents. The army has conducted demolitions in northern Sinai as part of its continuous military operations since 2013, but in 2014 the government announced a plan to evict people from a 79-square-kilometer security buffer zone, including the entire city of Rafah, on the border with Gaza. The army said the evictions were needed to end smuggling of fighters and weapons through tunnels from Gaza. Between July 2013 and August 2015, the army demolished at least 3,250 buildings, and in late 2017, the government resumed these forced evictions.

The recent demolitions also include homes in a new security buffer zone around al-Arish airport. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said this was needed after the Sinai Province group (the Islamic State affiliate operating in Sinai) claimed responsibility for a missile attack on December 19, 2017 on an air base and a military helicopter. According to the Sinai Province group's statement, the attack targeted the defense and interior ministers who were visiting the area. The attack did not harm the ministers but killed one army officer and injured two. There also have been a smaller number of demolitions inside the town of al-Arish, the most populous city in North Sinai.

Human Rights Watch sent letters, on May 10 and 11, 2018, to the Egyptian Defense Ministry, North Sinai Governor Abdel Fattah Harhor, and the State Information Service to inquire about the ongoing demolitions but has received no response.

The Egyptian army has vastly expanded widespread destruction of homes, commercial buildings, and farms in the North Sinai governorate since February 9, 2018, as part of its military campaign against an affiliate of the Islamic State group there.

Human Rights Watch analyzed a time series of satellite imagery recorded between January 15 and April 14 and identified evidence of widespread building demolition in multiple villages and towns in North Sinai. Human Rights Watch concluded from its spatial analysis of the imagery that the army, during these months, demolished 3,600 buildings and razed hundreds of hectares of farmland within a 12-kilometer zone along the border with Gaza, along with the smaller pockets of demolition of over 100 buildings north of the al-Arish airport, which is just south of the city. The images reveal a major escalation in demolition activity after February 9. While Human Rights Watch identified over 600 other buildings demolished in January and early February, the army demolished at least 3,000 homes between February 9, when the government declared a major new security offensive, and April 15. The total number of buildings demolished so far in 2018 is the largest since the government ordered the eviction of residents from the Rafah buffer zone in October 2014.

Link to original story on HRW website