Six hundred and seventy five Bedouins from the province of Marsa Matrouh have decided to sue the UK government over the nearly 16.8 million landmines it planted in the region during World War II, which, over the years, have caused injuries to many. The lawsuit will be brought before an Egyptian court, with a team of lawyers working on the pleadings.
The head of the Lawyers Syndicate in Marsa Matrouh, Mamdouh el-Derbaly, said the claim should have been made long ago. He noted that both of the warring sides–the Allies and the Axis states–have until now ignored demands by the Egyptian government to hand over maps defining the locations of the landmines.
An association of landmine victims from the province sent a memo to Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, during a recent visit he made to the Alamein tombs, where soldiers killed during WWII were buried. The association said they received no response to their request to remove the mines. They also approached the European Association for the Defense of Human Rights, which advised them to first raise their case with the Egyptian judiciary.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
