Mozambique: More than 60,000 displaced from Palma

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Mozambique: More than 60,000 displaced from Palma

2:27 CAT | 28 May 2021

File photo: Lusa

The number of displaced people registered following the 24 March attack on the town of Palma in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, on Thursday exceeded 60,000, according to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

“On 27 May, an estimated 714 internally displaced persons were registered in the receiving districts, bringing the total number to 60,527 people who were displaced from Palma,” the latest report from that United Nations agency said.

In the last week alone (from 19 to 27 May) was 8,500 displaced people have been registered, and the population fleeing is expected to be higher since some may not be registered, and there will be families still hiding in the forests.

According to the IOM profile, 43% of the displaced are children, and the number of minors separated from their families or fleeing alone has risen to 758.

There are also 1,958 elderly people registered, according to IOM.

Most (85%) of the registered displaced people are being sheltered by host families.

There are still thousands of people (the estimate was at least 11,000) near the gates of Total’s gas project in Afungi and in the new village of Quitunda who do not want to return to Palma due to insecurity and who are struggling to find a way to reach safety, according to the agency.

Armed groups have terrorised Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the ‘jihadist’ group Islamic State, in a wave of violence that has led to more than 2,800 deaths according to the ACLED conflict registration project and 714,000 displaced people according to the Mozambican government.

An attack on Palma, near the gas project under construction, on 24 March caused dozens of deaths and injuries.

The Mozambican authorities regained control of the town. Still, the attack led oil company Total to abandon the site of the project scheduled to start production in 2024. Many of Mozambique’s economic growth expectations for the next decade are anchored.

Source: Lusa