'What affects Mozambique will affect neighboring countries' warns UN Refugee Agency
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It's been two weeks since the city of Palma in Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique was attacked by heavily armed rebel forces on March 24. The attacks continued until April 2, leaving many people dead, displaced or injured.
Those who managed to escape the violence arrived in surrounding areas like Pemba, with harrowing stories of murdered neighbour and family members, missing loved ones and communities destroyed.
The Mozambican army has stated that Palma is now secure, but the residual collateral damage is weighing heavily on survivors and under resourced surrounding communities.
Close to 700 000 people have been displaced in their own country, since the insurgency involving Islamist militants initially began in 2017.
However, since 2017 the motives behind the attacks have not been concretely established.
The United Nations Refugee Agency’s Head of Office in Pemba, Margarida Loureiro, who has been on the ground with those displaced by the recent attacks, describes just how dire the humanitarian situation in Mozambique is. She warns that if the situation is not controlled, the humanitarian concerns are likely to impact neighboring countries as well.
Those who managed to escape the violence arrived in surrounding areas like Pemba, with harrowing stories of murdered neighbour and family members, missing loved ones and communities destroyed.
The Mozambican army has stated that Palma is now secure, but the residual collateral damage is weighing heavily on survivors and under resourced surrounding communities.
Close to 700 000 people have been displaced in their own country, since the insurgency involving Islamist militants initially began in 2017.
However, since 2017 the motives behind the attacks have not been concretely established.
The United Nations Refugee Agency’s Head of Office in Pemba, Margarida Loureiro, who has been on the ground with those displaced by the recent attacks, describes just how dire the humanitarian situation in Mozambique is. She warns that if the situation is not controlled, the humanitarian concerns are likely to impact neighboring countries as well.