A total of 18,661 people, almost half of them children, have fled Palma following an attack on the town on 24 March, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced in its latest report.
According to the document, of the total displaced people, 43 percent are children and 31 percent women, people who have arrived since 24 March in the districts of Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez and Pemba.
“Hundreds of IDPs from Palma district continue to arrive daily on foot, by ónibus [bus], by boat and by plane in the districts of Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez and Pemba. This leads us to think that there are still a significant number of people displaced in the forest, walking to safer areas,” the IOM report said.
The document adds that there are also dozens of people who continue to seek safe locations within Palma, particularly in Quitunda and Afungi, around the gas exploration project led by Total.
The organisation is concerned about possible cases of cholera in these areas, warning that since 15 March local authorities in at least five districts of the province have recorded 3,141 cases and 16 deaths.
The town of Palma, about six kilometres from the multinational Total’s natural gas project, suffered an armed attack on 24 March, which authorities say resulted in the death of dozens of people, destruction of several infrastructures and the flight of hundreds.
The violence in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado province began three years ago and is causing a humanitarian crisis with almost 700,000 people displaced, according to United Nations (UN) agencies, and over 2,000 deaths, according to an accounting made by Lusa.
