UN: Mozambique has many displaced people as violence grows and aid is in short supply
The United Nations' humanitarian agency announced on Friday that more than 107,000 people had been forced to leave Mozambique over the last fortnight due to the violence that has increased in the northern part of the country. Some aid supplies have also run out.
Insurgent attacks in northern Mozambique increased in this year. They have spread beyond the rich in gas Cabo Delgado province to include the provinces of Nampula, and Niassa.
According to the U.N., violence has forced more than 1.3 millions people from their homes since 2017.
Reporters in Geneva were told by Paola Emerson (Head of Office, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA), via video link, that "people flee because they are attacked, their villages are burned and destroyed and others flee surrounding villages for fear of attack."
According to the U.N., 107,000 people in Nampula have fled their homes due to violence spreading. In the last four month, 330,000 people were displaced.
Emerson stated that "this latest wave of violence in Nampula was unusual because we have seen reports of attacks by non-state armed group lasting for several weeks now, while the pattern of the past had been more in and out."
UNICEF's report on Tuesday noted that violence has also returned to the Palma District of Cabo Delgado for the first since 2021. The report reported the killing of civilians across multiple districts and targeted attacks on security forces.
OCHA has warned that health kits and food supplies are running low. The agency said that about 40% of the displaced people have been provided with food for the coming two weeks.
Emerson stated, "But this is woefully insufficient." She said that despite the fact that security threats in the areas where people fled continued, "in certain instances it is also forcing them to return as they are not receiving any assistance there currently." Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Aiden Lewis
(source: Reuters)
