The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has updated this Tuesday to more than 7,000 the number of people displaced in northern Mozambique since the end of September, as a result of the violence carried out by armed groups in this area of the country. Nearly 80% of those affected are women and minors.
According to the latest data from the United Nations agency, there are 7,029 Mozambicans who have had to leave their homes in Cabo Delgado Province in just over five weeks. Of these, 5,794 moved between September 21 and October 13, while the remaining 1,235 people did so from October 14 to 27.
During this period, "some" of these people have been forced to flee on more than one occasion, which makes them "even more vulnerable," the IOM stressed. In its statement, it specifies that all of them "are fleeing the new wave of violence and fear of attacks by non-state armed groups."
Minors and women account for 78% of the total displaced recorded so far. In recent days, 584 children -- at least four of whom are unaccompanied or separated from their families -- and 386 women, among whom are 87 pregnant women, have left their communities, so that "many men have been left behind, exposed to danger, in order to be able to maintain their families' means of subsistence."
Since October, Cabo Delgado Province has been hosting more than 205,000 internally displaced people, more than half of them minors, distributed across 84 settlements. The organization warns that the new arrivals are "exacerbating a prolonged crisis that has been going on for years."
"More and more families are looking for refuge in communities that already host people displaced by violence. Almost eight out of every ten are women and children. These communities need help in the form of food, shelter and healthcare. Without timely support, life could become much more difficult both for displaced families and for the people who are hosting them," the head of the IOM mission in Mozambique, Dana Graber Ladek, has warned.
Food is considered the "most urgent" need for 88% of the people evaluated by this UN agency. Access to adequate housing is a priority for a little more than 70%, while healthcare is a priority for 44%.
The IOM emphasizes that the new waves of displaced persons increase the "burden" borne by households, given that most families settle in host communities, and further pressure social services that are "already in a difficult situation".
For this reason, the organization calls for "sustained support" that guarantees displaced people access to essential services and helps to "alleviate the pressure" on the communities that receive them, in the face of the risk that needs continue to grow while there are no "clear indications" of a "safe" return to the homes of those affected.