The Egyptian government has started to relocate some 3,200 families resident in Qarna village west of historical sites at Luxor to a government-made village in order to protect ancient tombs on which Qarna is built.

The initiative, which began on Saturday, includes moving the families to the recently built village of al-Talib. The village cost around 170 million Egyptian pounds (30 million dollars), with 30 million pounds coming from the Ministry of Tourism, said Luxor governor Samir Farag.

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Al-Talib has service centres, post office, a police station, a cultural centre, electricity, water facilities, sewage, a mosque, two schools, gardens and a market.

Some Qarna residents however are resistant to the move as they have small tourism-related businesses at the Qarna, which is near larger monuments. In addition, some residents say the new dwellings are too small and that the government has provided no guarantees of ownership of the new homes.

There have been reports of pillaging of ancient tombs by Qarna
residents.