Mozambique: MISA demands action against director who ran over a journalist - AIM report
File photo: Lusa
The United Nations recommends “caution” regarding the improvement of security in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, considering that it is not yet clear what is happening on the rebel side, when 90 days have passed for damage assessment.
The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) “has already expressed caution as it remains unclear whether these actions have effectively reduced the capacity of NSAGs [non-state armed groups], since presence and fighting continues in certain locations and civilian authorities have not been reestablished.,” reads a document published a week and a half ago, to which Lusa had access to on Tuesday.
The document of the ‘protection cluster’, a group of UN agencies working in the area of protection of the population in Mozambique, sets the framework of the situation to establish the principles that it considers basic so that those displaced by the conflict can return home.
These principles include the voluntary and civilian nature of the return, that is, wanting to do so voluntarily and without being integrated into military convoys, which can make the population (and humanitarian agents) a target.
The declaration of these principles comes at a time when there are many messages from the authorities encouraging the return to some previously occupied areas, and when joint forces (Mozambican military with Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community, SADC) have announced that they are accompanying people to return to Palma – a town near the gas projects, attacked in March and where the number of victims has yet to be calculated.
In addition to uncertainty about what is happening on the insurgent side, the UN notes that the rebels are leaving behind destroyed areas: “Towns recently retaken have experienced widescale destruction (such as seen in Mocimboa da Praia)”.
The UN plans to conduct security assessments ” to reveal whether humanitarian and development actors will be able to access these areas soon”.
“Within this context, authorities shared verbally with the HC/RC that they are working on a 90-day plan to assess infrastructure damages in retaken areas, which could pave the way for the returns of internally displaced persons (IDPs),” the document noted.
“At present, UN engagement in these plans has not yet been defined, however, it is likely that the UN will be called upon to support restoring services and provide assistance to facilitate a gradual return of IDPs.,” as long as it follows the defined principles.
In addition to voluntary and civilian character, these principles include dialogue with IDP communities, information sharing by the authorities and ease of access for humanitarian agencies to return sites to ensure “viable and durable” living solutions.
The document also stresses that “working on a common approach to returns does not mean reducing efforts to assist the 732,000 IDPs in Cabo Delgado and to support new arrivals.”.
The UNHCR counts 732,000 displaced persons, but official government figures for some months have been as high as 817,000.
“UNHCR remains extremely concerned about the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the needs of IDPs and host communities in urgent need of multi-sectoral assistance”.
The High Commissioner highlights the plight of “more than 10,300 people” who have arrived in Tanzania this year and been turned back, sent to “very remote areas of Cabo Delgado”.
You may read the full UNHCR Protection Cluster document, in English, HERE.
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