Country: Egypt

Group: Nubian

Date Finalized: 04/13/23

Team: Julia Curtiss (lead), Esha Kubavat, Kate Edwards, Hajer Rahee, Monica Hallock, Brandon Neverez

Content Warning: Lethal Violence, Discrimination

Approximate Time Period: 2050 BC-present

The Nubian ethnic group resides in the southern portion of Egypt and in Northern Sudan. Nearly 3.5-4 million Nubians live in Egypt and 20% of the Nubian population resides in Aswan (Border Center for Support and Consulting, n.d.). While Nubians are recognized as citizens of Egypt, the government oppresses them (Minority Rights Group, 2017). In April of 2014 in Luxor, the Haylela ethnic group and the Nubian ethnic group broke out into fights after the Haylela graffitied anti-Nubian messages and symbols after a group of Nubian children were walking to school through the area. This event left 23-25 people dead and 36 people injured. The Haylela stabbed and shot many Nubians as well as torched and looted their property (The Guardian, 2021). According to Adel Abu Bakr, members of the Haylela ethnic group beat a Nubian member and then shot and killed three Nubians which led to further violence (Salama, 2014). In 2017, the Egyptian army opened fire on a peaceful protest of Nubian activists and killed three Nubians. The Egyptian Army arrested 24 and detained them at the Shallal military camp. Security released tear gas into a crowd of activists gathered in front of the court house in Aswan and 7 more activists were arrested (Border Center for Support and Consulting, n.d.). The Nubian ethnic group is still a target of lethal violence within Egypt, particularly racial and ethnic violence (Human Rights Report, 2021).

Data Quality:

The data quality for Nubian lethal violence is rated a 2 because of the reliability of the evidence but lack of peer reviewed articles.

Sources

  1. Border Center for Support and Consulting (BSC). “Nubian Indigenous People, Egypt.” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Border Center for Support and Consulting (BSC), www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/RtD/RTD_IndigenousPeoples.pdf. 
  2. EGYPT 2021 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT. United States Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/313615_EGYPT-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf.
  3. Minority Rights Group. (2017). Nubians. Minority Rights Group. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/nubians/
  1. Salama, H. (2014, April 5). Violence between Arab, Nubian clans in Egypt leaves 23 dead. The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/violence-between-arab-nubian-clans-in-egypt-leaves-23-dead/