Pope Francis calls for cease-fires, prays for Cabo Delgado - Watch
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The Episcopal Commission for Migrants, Refugees and Displaced Persons considers the conditions in the accommodation centres in Nampula to be deplorable. Lack of tents, a food crisis and the hygienic conditions are the main problems.
Nampula continues to see an ongoing influx of displaced people from Cabo Delgado, seeking shelter in the neighbouring province. This situation concerns the Episcopal Commission for Migrants, Refugees and Displaced Persons (CEMIRDE), a private Catholic organisation that supports refugees.
Charles Moniz, the NGO’s deputy coordinator in Nampula province, told DW Africa that there was an urgent need to improve the lives of displaced people. “CEMIRDE tries to prioritise those who arrived recently, offering Covid-19 prevention masks, food products like rice, corn flour, sugar and cookies for the children, salt and cooking oil,” he says.
In addition to food, Charles Moniz says there is a problem whose resolution authorities must prioritize. “The Government did not have space set aside [for accommodation] – they were taken by surprise by all these families arriving. There is a lack of tents. The way people live, it will not take two days for everyone to be contaminated with the disease. So tents are our most urgent requirement – to distance people,” he says.
Government statistics suggest about 5,000 displaced people, most of whom are housed in Meconta and Nacarôa districts. But CEMIRDE believes that the true number may be higher.
“We don’t feel that the government is in control. It is said there may be 5,000 IDPs in Nampula, but I believe that the number is higher. Some displaced people have not been registered yet. In Nampula, we are always getting complaints, through the parishes, that they have displaced people,” Moniz says.
“I left everything behind”
The displaced, who recently met with Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, experienced moments of sheer terror before finding refuge in the country’s most populous province.
“I feel bad that I left everything there. And I would ask the government to end the war, so we can return to our homes and resume our normal activities,” Abel Salimo, a displaced Muidumbe resident, said.
The prime minister assured the displaced that Filipe Nyusi’s government would continue to support them, and that the fight against the insurgents, to return peace and tranquillity to the region, was being vigorously pursued.
“We must all be united [to fight terrorism], because the government is already doing its part. Each of us must talk to our sons and wives, so that they do not join those who want war and foment terror to make money. This is not good,” the prime minister said.
Police authorities in Nampula province have meanwhile announced that they have thwarted the alleged recruitment of more than 25 young people, who were supposedly going to Meconta district to participate in a traditional ceremony – a justification that did not convince the corporation, which, suspecting that the youths intended to join the ranks of the insurgents, prevented them from completing their journey.
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