The International Organisation for Migration is supporting 22,000 of the 100,000 people displaced in Cabo Delgado province in February alone by the terrorist attacks, but has warned that it is running out of resources.
“Responding to this humanitarian emergency, IOM has been on the front line, providing essential aid to more than 22,000 newly displaced people,” says a statement from the agency, adding that the “multi-faceted approach” includes managing displacement sites, providing shelter, healthcare, mental health support and coordinating a response to “growing needs”.
“This alarming figure represents the second largest wave of displacement in Cabo Delgado since the beginning of the conflict in 2017, underlining the deepening of the humanitarian crisis,” the institution warns, referring to the more than 112,000 displaced people registered in the current wave of attacks, since the end of December, of which almost 100,000 in the last month.
“Despite these efforts,” the IOM emphasises that the “magnitude of the crisis continues to outstrip available resources, highlighting a gap that urgently needs to be filled.”
“In the face of this distressing crisis,” the head of the IOM mission in Mozambique, Laura Tomm-Bonde, guarantees that the organisation “remains steadfast” in its “commitment to provide support to those affected”.
“The challenges we face in meeting the needs of the displaced are significant. Our resources, including essential items, are rapidly dwindling, threatening to jeopardise thousands of people already in a vulnerable situation, including women, children and the elderly,” she warns.
In the most recent weekly bulletin from the intergovernmental agency, which Lusa reported on 5 March, the IOM counts the displacement of people caused by the attacks that took place between 8 February and 3 March, especially in the districts of Chiùre and Macomia, with 91,239 and 5,719 displaced in that period respectively, mainly (62%) children (61,492).
“Attacks and the fear of attacks by armed groups,” describes the IOM, occurred above all in Ocua, Mazeze and Chiùre-Velho, in the Chiùre district, with the displaced fleeing to the town of Chiùre (28,754) or to Erati, in the neighbouring province of Nampula (45,957).
In the same bulletin, the IOM states that between 22 December 2023 and 03 March 2024, “sporadic attacks and fear of attacks by armed groups” in Macomia, Chiure, Mecufi, Mocímboa da Praia and Muidumbe have already led to the flight of 24,241 families, totalling 112,894 people.
The armed attacks in northern Mozambique have left a trail of panic in their wake, with several towns left with a small number of people.
At the end of February, the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for 27 attacks in the same month on “Christian” villages in the district of Chiùre, Cabo Delgado, in which it said 70 people died, as well as destroying 500 churches, houses and public buildings in the district.
This new wave of attacks towards the south of Cabo Delgado has been growing since December, after a period of several months of relative calm.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday that he had only secured 5% of the 400 million dollars needed to respond to the crisis of displaced people caused by terrorist attacks and natural disasters in northern Mozambique.
“Unfortunately, it’s not well funded,” admitted Filippo Grandi, speaking to journalists in Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province, after visiting resettlement camps for displaced people fleeing the latest terrorist attacks, reinforcing the call for international support.
The head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the terrorist attacks in the province since 2017 have displaced around 1.3 million people and that 780,000 people remain outside their villages of origin, although 600,000 have already returned.
The high commissioner admitted that more publicised conflicts occurring in other places condition the channelling of funds for the 2024 support plan for Cabo Delgado, which involves “joint efforts” with other agencies.
“Unfortunately, the situation in Mozambique is perhaps not the most visible,” Grandi pointed out.
DW
