At least 10,000 Mozambicans displaced in Cabo Delgado: UN

LILONGWE, Malawi

At least 10,000 people were displaced in February in Mozambique’s violence-hit northern province of Cabo Delgado, a UN agency said Wednesday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that 93% of those movements of people were found to be due to “attacks or fears of the attacks.”

According to the report, food and shelter are the main priorities reported by the displaced.

While describing the statistics as “horrendous” and “concerning,” Inocencio Impissa, the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, told Anadolu that the Mozambican government was working with security agencies to beef up security for the displaced people.

“Having this huge number of people displaced in a single month is very depressing. But with support from humanitarian agencies, we are making sure that those displaced by the conflict in the region are provided with food, shelter and medical care,” said Impissa.

Guy Taylor, chief of Advocacy, Communication and Partnerships at UNICEF Mozambique, said children continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing conflicts in Cabo Delgado.

“More than 100 schools in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces have had to close down due to insecurity affecting the learning of over 50,000 children whose families are being cut off from essential services,” Taylor said.

“Without access to nutrition services, displaced children are experiencing severe acute malnutrition. The psychological impact of this conflict on children is also tremendous,” he added.

Since 2017, the gas-rich province has been facing an armed rebellion that has caused thousands of deaths and displaced more than 1.5 million people including children, according to the United Nations.

The province is also known for its deep ruby pits and illegal trade in ivory and timber. It is also where the war for independence against the Portuguese began in 1964 and was a battlefield in the Mozambican civil war that followed.