A group of persons with physical disabilities representing others with special needs in Egypt have elevated their quest for equal rights by staging an open sit-in near the Egyptian Cabinet building.

A group of around 30 protesters started the sit-in Wednesday, outside one of the fences surrounding the Egyptian Cabinet headquarters in Qasr Al-Aini Street in downtown Cairo.

Upon receiving no response, some of the protesters attempted to block the vital Qasr Al-Aini artery of the downtown road system at around 10am Sunday morning, but they shortly retreated when the head of the guarding forces at the Cabinet premises came out to tell them that an official would be talking to them within an hour. However, no one came out to address them as they were told.

People with physical disabilities have been staging protests even before the January uprising. And they have been demonstrating on-and-off since the uprising, demanding equal access to jobs and the specification of a 10 per cent quota of jobs for disabled people, as well as housing and other benefits.