# Sinai decree



## aykalam

Sorry I can't find an English version of this yet, but from I know, this decree (art.8) says that all dual nationality Egyptians who own land anywhere in Sinai will have 6 months to sell their property to an Egyptian (of Egyptian parents), otherwise the property will pass to the state!!! 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz4U1E1FZJ_XclltX1A0cjd2c1E/edit


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## MaidenScotland

and so it begins


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## aykalam

What I find confusing is that the date on the first page says 13 Sept 2012. Perhaps someone (DG?) can confirm.


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## aykalam

This is also very important for ANYONE who owns property in Sinai or was thinking of investing there as prices will now plummet


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## MaidenScotland

would it be safe to presume that if they don't want anyone with dual nationality owning property foreigners will be next?


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## aykalam

MaidenScotland said:


> would it be safe to presume that if they don't want anyone with dual nationality owning property foreigners will be next?


I think it was Biffy (sorry if not) who mentioned something like that already weeks ago


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## cdsj

Hi All.
What do you all think the implications will be for all the investors who have purchased in Sharm. I ask this as we have only been able to purchase under the right of usurfruct, as being foreign nationals we are forbidden from owning the land anyway. I`m aware freehold and registration is only for mainland Egypt, so has there been any decree for foreign ownership there?
I look forward nervously to the replies .....................


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## aykalam

I have seen from comments on FB that two months of this decree have indeed passed without government or press making it public - so now there are 4 months left. 

however, how would they know who holds a foreign passport as well as their Egyptian pp? they are not notified when someone acquires double nationality so that maybe tricky to implement.


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## MaidenScotland

aykalam said:


> I have seen from comments on FB that two months of this decree have indeed passed without government or press making it public - so now there are 4 months left.
> 
> however, how would they know who holds a foreign passport as well as their Egyptian pp? they are not notified when someone acquires double nationality so that maybe tricky to implement.





Just check who leaves the country with an Egyptian passport then ask to see their visa into another country.. no visa probably means they have another passport and of course how many people are already registered as foreign passport holders so they don't have to do national service.


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## aykalam

MaidenScotland said:


> Just check who leaves the country with an Egyptian passport then ask to see their visa into another country.. no visa probably means they have another passport and of course how many people are already registered as foreign passport holders so they don't have to do national service.


So if you don't travel you can keep your Sinai property? that's a good one


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## MaidenScotland

aykalam said:


> So if you don't travel you can keep your Sinai property? that's a good one




Well it is Egypt... plus for future presidents it will show they dont have any foreign parents


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## aykalam

Xenophobic campaign carries on...


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## aykalam

The following link is a translation of the relevant Arabic Ahram article:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1554W09VtM11UqLLnBUw_kMPtrMoOrZdaikB73Fl9eYY/edit?pli=1


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## GM1

Does anyone have a link to the original source and/or the Ahram article?


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## aykalam

?????? ????????..? ??????? ???????


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## GM1

Thank you!


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## MaidenScotland

The Administrative Court ruled Sunday that Zewail City of Science and Technology must return one of three buildings to Nile University.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by former MP Hamdy al-Fakhrany against the higher education minister, the prime minister and the former head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces seeking to cancel the transfer of land and facilities to Zewail City.

Nile University students had been protesting the public prosecutor’s decision to hand the campus over to Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail. The demonstrators claimed that the Nile University administration had paid LE62 million for the right to use the campus for 99 years, and demanded that their campus remain in Zewail City and that they be allowed to use its laboratories and facilities.

Students earlier set up tents to take their lectures, where they had previously been protesting and staging sit-ins.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm


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## GM1

An Egyptian has read the first document ( https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz4U1E1FZJ_XclltX1A0cjd2c1E/edit?pli=1 ) and said that this also applies to property from foreigners!


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## aykalam

GM1 said:


> An Egyptian has read the first document ( https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz4U1E1FZJ_XclltX1A0cjd2c1E/edit?pli=1 ) and said that this also applies to property from foreigners!


do you know in what article/page?


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## GM1

I will ask on which page that is written, but apparently this decree still has to be approved by the (future) parliament (my sister-in-law spoke to the writer of the Ahram article).


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## GM1

Adding info: foreigners were never allowed to own property in the SINAI, they only could lease (usufruct) it for 99 years, so this decree doesn't apply to them?


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## aykalam

GM1 said:


> Adding info: foreigners were never allowed to own property in the SINAI, they only could lease (usufruct) it for 99 years, so this decree doesn't apply to them?


I'm not an expert but my understanding is that foreigners were/are not allowed to own land on a freehold basis, only to own property as leasehold (that's what we call it in the UK anyway). But those with more knowledge on the subject please feel free to correct me.


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## aykalam

GM1 said:


> I will ask on which page that is written, but apparently this decree still has to be approved by the (future) parliament (my sister-in-law spoke to the writer of the Ahram article).


That means it will probably not be approved, I guess we'll just have to wait and see


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## aykalam

For those who can understand Arabic, they are discussing this on ONTV right now


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## expatagogo

The tragic fate of Sinai's dual-nationals - Opinion - Ahram Online

_The text of Article 8 of the Executive Regulations for Law 14 for the Comprehensive Development of the Sinai Peninsula, which caused all the turmoil, appeared in the Official Gazette (issue 210) on 13 September 2012. Here is a translation of this text:

"An Egyptian who has obtained another nationality and kept his Egyptian nationality has to sell his property, be it land or buildings, in the Sinai Peninsula to Egyptians who hold solely the Egyptian nationality and whose parents are both Egyptian within six months of implementing these executive regulations. If the six months elapse without the property thus sold, the ownership of the property shall devolve to the state in return for the payment of equivalent (compensation) price to the owner. The (compensation) price is to be decided by a committee of experts the formation and task of which is to be determined in a decision to be issued by the minister of justice."

...

*The executive regulations were issued in September*, but the Sinai local community didn't learn about them until two weeks ago and only by chance. There have been no notifications, no official letters, not even a distant whisper, before the axe fell._


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## Homeless

If it makes any difference the law proposed would be unconstitutional, that is when there's a constitution. It would be like punishing people retroactively for something that wasn't punishable at the time of the "offense". This was the same argument that was made regarding the presidential candidates no qualifying for dual citizenship.


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## MaidenScotland

Homeless said:


> If it makes any difference the law proposed would be unconstitutional, that is when there's a constitution. It would be like punishing people retroactively for something that wasn't punishable at the time of the "offense". This was the same argument that was made regarding the presidential candidates no qualifying for dual citizenship.





I don't think that would make any difference.. just as it didn't make any difference when Nasser took peoples homes from them


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## aykalam

Homeless said:


> If it makes any difference the law proposed would be unconstitutional, that is when there's a constitution. It would be like punishing people retroactively for something that wasn't punishable at the time of the "offense". This was the same argument that was made regarding the presidential candidates no qualifying for dual citizenship.


I don't think they care if it is constitutional or not, but of course if enough people make noise against it the decree will probably not pass when the next elected parliament gets to vote on it. Right now, no constitution, no parliament, no nothing...


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