Mozambique: Over a million displaced by violence, weather events – UNHCR

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Mozambique: Over a million displaced by violence, weather events – UNHCR

1:42 CAT | 12 Jun 2023

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are over a million people displaced from their areas of residence in Mozambique, according to the country’s latest data release.

Armed violence in Cabo Delgado accounts for most of the displaced, some 834,000, while cyclone Freddy, which hit Mozambique twice between February and March, forced 184,000 people to seek refuge.

The number of people displaced by the conflict in Cabo Delgado has tended to decrease since November 2022, while the number of people who have already returned to their areas of origin continues to increase and is currently around 420,000 people.

There are still 129,000 people who never returned to their areas of residence after cyclone Idai in 2019.

In addition to internally displaced people, Mozambique also hosts nearly 32,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries.

The data was collected until April in the document released on the United Nations humanitarian network (Reliefweb) on Saturday.

The UNHCR is one of the UN organisations that has shown systematic underfunding of operations in Mozambique: the country’s fact sheet reports that only a quarter of the 2023 budget of $47.4 million (44 million euros) is secured.

In addition to providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons and refugees from other countries – actions that are at the core of the organisation’s activity – UNHCR’s goal in Mozambique is to “support efforts to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, including cyclones, floods and droughts”.

The High Commissioner’s Office stresses that ” all refugee and IDP return movements should take place in an informed, safe, voluntary and dignified manner”.

“Simultaneously, UNHCR is scaling-up engagement with development and peace-building actors to ultimately support the inclusion of displaced populations through the expansion of their respective programming.,” it concludes.

Source: Lusa