Hundreds of Cabo Delgado insurgency victims arrive in Nampula in despair – Watch

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Hundreds of Cabo Delgado insurgency victims arrive in Nampula in despair – Watch

4:37 CAT | 25 May 2020

Displaced victims of the Cabo Delgado insurgency

Hundreds of people forced by the Cabo Delgado insurgency to leave their homes are arriving in Nampula in despair and asking for minimum means of survival.

Authorities say the majority of the more than 300 internally displaced people (IDPs) are in Namialo administrative post, Meconta district, Nampula province, but there more in Nampula and other districts, with no accurate figures available.

Omar Estevão has been in Meconta since the second week of April, after his village in Munhengueleua, Muidumbe district, was attacked by insurgents. He and his family hid in the bush for three days.

“The insurgents entered the village on April 6. They destroyed homes,” says the father of three. Estevão remembers seeing many people in his village dead, and during the flight he saw many parents separated from their children.

Anastácia Cassiano, who has just arrived in Nampula, has a similar tale to tell. “We are suffering a lot with that Al Shabab. They burn everything and kill people,” she says.

The displaced people spent nights walking through the bush on their way to family members or acquaintances in Nampula. In general, they are welcomed by families who themselves face difficulties in terms of shelter and food.

Resettlement

Against this backdrop, the displaced people are asking for support, in the shape of tents and household items.

The government says it is mobilising support and has already started distributing food aid, with Secretary of State in Nampula, Mety Gôndola, adding that the government is planning to establish a resettlement area for the Cabo Delgado displaced.

There is also a risk that some off those displaced have left areas with positive cases of coronavirus. After all, Cabo Delgado is home to more than half the country’s cases.

Leonardo de Oliveira, who is responsible for the education and public health section in Nampula, says that an effort is being made to detect signs of infection. Upon arrival, he says, “migrants’ temperatures are measured, and vehicles disinfected”.

But not everyone arrives in Nampula using conventional means of transport.

caption – Heroes Square, Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

Source: Voa Portugues