51 Protests in Egypt in one Month, says human rights center

Children of Earth Center for Human Rights reported that there have been 51 protests in Egypt by workers and peasants during the last month.

These include 14 sit-ins, six strikes, and six demos during May 2008. 5280 workers have been dismissed, eight died, and 12 were injured due to the absence of industrial safety measures. Moreover, three workers committed suicide after failing to meet the requirements of their families.

The report indicated that the laborers were not the only ones to protest against the deteriorating conditions. Several other sectors were involved in these actions. Peasants held 16 protests; six of them were sit-ins, and ten demos. In addition, three farmers were arrested after protesting against taking the lands they reclaimed at Sohag airport area.

Bread queues led to the death of six Egyptians, and the injury of 35 in one month.  

The report cited the famine that faced the people living in more than 70 villages at Mit Ghamr city at Daqahlya governorate. They fully depended on the city to buy their daily needs of bread from the city. But the government applied new measures saying the city’s bread is only for its residents.

In many places at the governorate, the biggest family can obtain only eight loaves of bread every two days. Smaller families obtain only two loaves of bread per day, the report said.