Flooding out the communities: from riverbank to desert
Thousands of affected people were displaced to desert locations chosen by the SDA. However, the soil in those new locations is so poor that even with irrigation, the farmers cannot sell their produce on the markets. Instead, they have to pay for fertilizer and electricity to power irrigation pumps- services that the annual floods of the Nile provided for free at their previous homes. In a short time, the poverty rate in the resettlement area increased dramatically.
Then, in 2006 and 2007, the dam floodgates were closed and the resulting rise in the water level led to the flooding of a number of villages in the Amri area. Thousands of families were displaced and 
New School their crops were destroyed, along with their homes and belongings. Their livestock drowned.
In late 2007, Mr. Miloon Kothari, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, issued a statement calling for the companies to halt work on Merowe pending a full and independent investigation of Merowe’s impact on the human rights of the affected communities. The request was ignored.
In 2008, more floodgates were closed, and the rise in the water level caused a second round of flooding and displacement. The affected communities contend that as a result of the 2006 and 2008 flooding incidents, a total of thirty villages were inundated and 4,700 families displaced.
The Manasir’s position
The demands of the communities today center around land ownership, compensation, relocation, and development. The communities insist that resettlement on their land be conducted pursuant to best international practices, and that they should therefore share in the 
benefits of Merowe through a resettlement plan negotiated with them, and to which they have given their assent.
The Manasir believe that the companies profiting from their involvement in the project have a responsibility to not harm local people in the course of their work, and to remedy the violations of the human rights of the Manasir caused by their project.
Legal help for the Manasir
The Manasir’s efforts to draw the companies’ attention to these human rights abuses resulting from their project had been unsuccessful, so EDLC was asked to help.
EDLC enlisted a team of a dozen lawyers from the U.S., England, and Germany to work on the Manasir’s behalf. After prolonged efforts, Alstom finally indicated its interest in funding reparations, but then abruptly changed course. The head of the four-hundred lawyer corporate practice section of Morrison Foerster represents the Manasir in this part of the case, and is seeking to re-engage the company in the negotiations process.
EDLC also asked the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Germany to consider whether Lahmeyer was in violation of German law. The Center concluded that Lahmeyer had violated German criminal law by virtue of its role in the construction and project management of the dam and the flooding incidents described above. In May 2010, ECCHR filed a request for prosecution with the German authorities for Lahmeyer’s flooding of over 30 villages, the displacement of over 4,700 families, and the destruction of their livelihood. In 2011, the German authorities agreed to investigate, and that investigation is underway.
For the 70,000 affected Manasir, these free legal services and the opportunities they create to hold the companies accountable were unimaginable until now.
- John Ruggie, United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative on Business & Human Rights