The Nordic Africa Institute – Publications

"When Egypt decided to build the High Dam at Aswan, the world's attention was attracted by the wonderful scheme, its design, its scale, its cost and its benefits to Egypt; but its evil aspects for Nubia passed unnoticed. The reservoir lake which was created upstream from the Dam disastrously affected all Egyptian Nubia and a reach of 150 km inside the Sudan. In the Sudan alone, twenty-seven villages and the town of Wadi Halfa were swallowed up by the rising waters of the lake. About 50,000 Sudanese Nubians were made homeless, and all their land, their houses, their date trees and economic assets were lost under the lake. In Egypt the number of Nubians affected was estimated at 70,000, making an overall total of 120000 souls. The story related in this book concerns the Sudanese Nubians who inhabited the Northern part of Wadi Halfa District. It gives an account of the liquidation of their immovable property, and their emigration and resettlement in their new home at Khashm el Girba. Being the commissioner in charge of Wadi Halfa, and later for the emigration, I lived with the Halfa people for six years, during which I attended the sad fate of their country and the building of their resettlement area. The whole issue of the emigration with all its aspects, physical and emotional, fell heavily on my shoulders. Having no precedent to follow, I had to rely on my imagination and the state of morale of the inhabitants. The fact that I lived with them for so long and got to know them so well helped me greatly in assessing the different situations and determining the issues and the courses of action to be followed."