Mozambique attacks: Provincial government reiterates alert over growing number of IDPs in Pemba

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Mozambique attacks: Provincial government reiterates alert over growing number of IDPs in Pemba

4:37 CAT | 09 Dec 2020

File photo: Voa News

The Secretary of State for Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, on Tuesday again warned of the growing number of internally displaced people (IDPs) arriving in the provincial capital in search of refuge, saying that Pemba was under “a lot of pressure”.

“Today, 75% of the population in Pemba is displaced. There is a lot of pressure on basic services, water and sanitation. Things are not moving, and so we are trying to decongest,” Armindo Ngunga told reporters in Cabo Delgado after observing a group of IDPs instal themselves in a new reception centre on the outskirts of Pemba.

Ngunga said the government was opening reception centres in Metuge, Chiure, Ancuabe and Montepuez, near Pemba, to answer the pressure the provincial capital was suffering.

“We have a team from the Ministry of Public Works making sure we work closely with the IDPs who are building their new homes,” he added.

The provincial capital, to which the 2017 population census ascribes just over 200,000 inhabitants, has been the main refuge for people fleeing districts affected by the violence, along with other destinations in neighbouring provinces.

Armed violence in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, is causing a humanitarian crisis with an estimated 2,000 killed and 500,000 displaced, without adequate housing or food, mainly to the area surrounding the provincial capital, Pemba.

The province, where Africa’s largest private investment, in natural gas, is ongoing, has been under attack by insurgents for three years, with some of the incursions, since 2019, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.