Saturday, July 02, 2022

The Mess in Mozambique Persists

 Across Africa, the misery rarely ceases. 

Now in its fifth year with no immediate end in sight, the conflict in Cabo Delgado in Mozambique has taken a devastating human toll, with repeated reports of beheadings and kidnapping, including many child victims, and about 785,000 people displaced, more than a half of them children.

Nearly 30,000 children fled a new wave of violence in Cabo Delgado province in June, the highest number of children uprooted in a single month in the past year, Save the Children said today. The latest spate of violence has disrupted humanitarian assistance, including mental health support for children who have already experienced horrific violence, and the provision of basic services like food, water and shelter for displaced communities.

At least 53 people were killed in the districts of Ancuabe, Metuge, Mecufi, Meluco, Chiure and Nampula in renewed violence across the northern province, forcing more than 50,000 people – 55% of whom were children - to flee their homes. Families moved in large numbers to the city of Pemba and the towns of Macomia and Montepuez seeking safety even though several deadly attacks were reported last weekend in Ancuabe, Macomia and Mocímboa da Praia, with six people, including one pregnant woman, killed.

Brechtje van Lith, Save the Children’s Country Director in Mozambique, said:“This has been the worst month for families and children in Cabo Delgado in a year. Those fleeing the violence are running out of options for safe shelters. And yet this is not the first time they are going through this – many are experiencing violence for the umpteenth time with no end in sight..."

‘No end in sight’ as renewed violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado sparks year-high number of children to flee - Mozambique | ReliefWeb

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