Cabo Delgado: IOM urges “planned” return to areas retaken by authorities

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Cabo Delgado: IOM urges “planned” return to areas retaken by authorities

7:07 CAT | 19 Aug 2021

Screen grab: Lusa

The director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday urged that those displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado should return in a gradual and properly planned manner, with guarantees of security.

“At this moment, it is necessary to assess the security conditions in each of the regions and, to plan the return in this perspective,” António Vitorino told a press conference in Pemba, the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado, during his three-day visit to Mozambique.

At a time when the joint forces of Mozambique and Rwanda are making progress in operations, having recovered important positions such as the town of Mocímboa da Praia, considered a base of the insurgents, the director general of IOM believes that a massive return to the reconquered zones would not be feasible.

“A mass return would not be feasible, but as security measures are created, it will be possible for the populations to return to their areas of origin,” Vitorino said, adding that most of the displaced people he had met during his visit wanted to return to their home districts.

“These people saw their lives destroyed: they were left without homes. It is necessary to ensure that state entities re-enter the field and that the reconstruction of fundamental infrastructure is carried out,” he added.

Vitorino also warned of the need for greater psychosocial support for those displaced, stressing that victims of armed violence in Cabo Delgado have been traumatised.

“These are people who have lived through extremely traumatic and dramatic situations, which always leave an impact on the mind of those who experience them,” he stressed.

Today the Director General António Vitorino @IOMchief visited the Ntocota relocation site of Metuge district + Paquitequete in Pemba city to assess the needs of those displaced by #conflict in #CaboDelgado #Mozambique.

Read more: IOM Press Release https://t.co/hrXXIu3pmM pic.twitter.com/8R5fUyTNzv

— IOM Mozambique (@IOM_Mozambique) August 17, 2021

The fight against insurgents in Cabo Delgado gained new impetus when 10 days ago joint forces from Mozambique and Rwanda reconquered the strategic port town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been in the hands of the rebels for over a year.

During this period of rebel domination, more than 62,000 people, almost the entire population, fled the town, and the scars of destruction are deep, the town’s mayor Cheia Carlos Momba said yesterday in an interview with Lusa.

The coastal town of Mocímboa da Praia, one of the main ones in the north of Cabo Delgado province and located 70 kilometres south of the construction site of the natural gas project led by Total, was the locus of the armed groups’ first attack, in October, 2017.

Armed attacks by insurgent groups in northern districts of Cabo Delgado are estimated to have killed more than 3,100 and displaced an estimated 827,000 residents.

During his tour, António Vitorino visited Metuge district, which hosts more than 125,000 of the approximately 827,000 internally displaced people.

The IOM estimates it needs US$58 million (€49.4 million) to support emergency and post-crisis efforts in Mozambique under the IOM Mozambique Crisis Response Plan, which includes US$21.7 million (€18.5 million) “to respond to the immediate humanitarian needs of saving lives in the north” of the country.

Source: Lusa