Mozambique: Movement Alert Report (8-14 February 2024) - IOM
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
Children fleeing the violence in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado do not smile. At the slightest noise, they shout “Weapon!” [“Arma!”] and run and hide. It will take time for them to trust anyone again.
All this according to a Portuguese nun working in Lichinga, Niassa province.
Sister Mónica da Rocha, from the Congregation of the Sisters of Reparation of Our Lady of Fátima, on a mission in Lichinga for three years, spends her days helping repair lives that the terrorist attacks have destroyed.
The violence in this area has been going on for years, but it caught international attention after the March 24 attack on Palma, which affected foreigners and occurred near the gas investments of French oil company Total.
The attack claimed dozens of lives, and the three-and-a-half-year conflict has already displaced more than 700,000 displaced people, according to the United Nations. Lusa news agency puts the number of fatalities at around 2,500.
Palma is far away, but it is natural that many of those who flee will end up in Lichinga, joining others with similar histories of fear and flight.
“They run away so as not to be killed, to survive. Anyone who does not run away, dies or has to live in the forest for a long time,” the Arouca-born missionary tells Lusa.
One of the displaced said that the government gave him a weapon to fight terrorists, but that on the first day they went out to fight a colleague of his was killed. Realising that he must either flee or end up dead, he ran away, he said.
There are two camps for displaced people in Lichinga: Málica, with about 300 people, spread over 51 tents, and Sanjala, with 100 people.
In addition to these camps, there are several families staying with relatives or taken in by well-wishers, Sister Mónica says. Seven families are living in houses or parts of houses previously uninhabited.
But even to leave villages destroyed or threatened by terrorists, people need some money for transportation, which not everyone has.
“When adults and children first arrive, they reveal a state of sadness, disorientation. They feel lost and out of context, and their suffering is really noticeable. But after a while, perhaps two or three months, they are different; more resigned, with an attitude of feeling in their new home, a new space, of no longer wanting to return,” Sister Monica explains.
The trauma is very present, especially among the children, who, when they arrive, do not smile, but run away from people and hide.
“I visited a family in which the grandfather had died, and the grandmother ran away with the two grandchildren, eight and four years old. The parents of these children – no one knows whether they are alive or dead. The four-year-old girl, whenever she hears a noise, grabs the grandmother and yells: “Arma!” [“Weapons!”].
The many who have seen the violence and who have fled and left everything to escape tell stories of terror, of bodies cut and burnt, of destroyed villages, she says. They call the terrorists “barbarians” and can offer no reason for such violence.
As soon as they manage to settle a little after their long, exhausting journey, they begin to feel like the new land is their own. They ask only for a bit of land and help to build a house and make a living off the land, Sister Mónica says.
The rainy weather has not helped, but now, with the arrival of dry weather, the priority is to build a house and work the land, she adds.
For those who help, like Sister Mónica, children are a priority, and the objective is to keep them in school, which is not easy, considering that this frequently depends on having uniforms and equipment for which families have no money.
The nun helps provide the uniform and school supplies, and says that there is no lack of motivation on the part of the children.
“They want to go [to school]. Some do not speak Portuguese, because of the areas they come from, but have already learned some things and are keen to study,” she says.
According to Mónica da Rocha, the Covid-19 pandemic has made life even more difficult for these displaced people who, despite awareness campaigns, are unable to understand why they have to wear a mask. It is not easy for them to maintain the necessary hygiene, or social distance.
“They say they are hungry; they already have so many problems, so many difficulties. And you can’t see a virus,” she concludes.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.