Almost 100 thousand people fled their homes in less than a month in Cabo Delgado

A new wave of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique has displaced 99,313 people in less than a month, according to an assessment released Tuesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

According to the weekly bulletin of the intergovernmental agency, which Lusa had access to, the displacement of people caused by attacks that occurred between February 8 and March 3, especially in the districts of Curé and Macomia, respectively, where 91,239 and 5,719 people lived. displaced persons during this period, especially (62%) children (61,492 people).

“Attacks and fear of attacks by armed groups,” the IOM describes, occurred mainly in Oqua, Mazeze and Curé Velho, in the Curé district, with displaced persons fleeing to the town of Curé (28,754 people) or Erati. , in the neighboring province of Nampula (45,957 people).

According to IOM, 20,668 families were displaced by boat, bus or on foot in less than a month in southern Cabo Delgado province.

In the same bulletin, IOM reports that between December 22, 2023 and March 3, 2024, “sporadic attacks and fear of attacks by armed groups” in Macomia, Chiura, Mekufi, Mocimboa da Praia and Muidumba have already resulted in 24,241 families escaped, with a total number of 112,894 people.

In late February, the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for 27 attacks that month in “Christian” villages in the Chiore region of Cabo Delgado, in which it said 70 people were killed.

According to statements to which Luza had access, through the group’s propaganda channels, which document these attacks with photographs, there is also mention of the destruction of 500 churches, houses and public buildings in this southern region of Cabo Delgado province.

This new wave of attacks in the south of Cabo Delgado, growing since December, after a period of relative calm of several months, has forced thousands of people to flee their villages, mainly in Chiura, but the Mozambican authorities have gone further and said that there are improvements: the number of displaced people, according to the executive branch, fell from the official 67 thousand to 45 thousand, as Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleian said on Monday.

Mozambican police told Lusa a week ago that they were “filtering” the movement of displaced people caused by a new wave of terrorist attacks in February, especially in the Chiure region, looking for possible rebels in these groups.

“We are working with communities, taking into account that we have to filter to understand whether in this group of returnees in the Chiure area there are some infiltrators, those who may be linked to terrorism,” said a spokesman for the Chiure Police of the Republic of Mozambique ( PRM) in the province of Cabo Delgado, Aniceto Magome.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Monday in Maputo that Mozambique needs to find “better solutions” for people forced to flee armed attacks in Cabo Delgado and natural disasters, pledging support.

“The most important thing is how to help the government find solutions for displaced people, by helping them return to their homes or by transferring them to other places or [a manterem-se] where they are,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, speaking to reporters after receiving Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in Maputo.

“We agreed on next steps and how the United Nations can best help the central government and local authorities respond to this situation by providing humanitarian assistance in the short term,” he said.

Grandi, who plans to visit Cabo Delgado this week, said legal assistance is planned for displaced people and support for their return to their places of origin or eventual resettlement in new areas.