According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA107,000 people have fled their homes in recent weeks, bringing the total number of displacements over the past four months to 330,000.
“They barely had time to recover before they had to leave again, due to the attacks or fear of attacks,” said Paola Emerson, head of the OCHA office in Mozambique.
The veteran humanitarian explained that violence has often uprooted families repeatedly as they endured weeks of attacks.
This is an unusual trend, compared to previous hit-and-run tactics characteristic of the violence that erupted in northern Cabo Delgado province in 2017.
This conflict and climate shocks have now displaced more than 600,000 people, UN data indicates, while nearly nine out of ten people fleeing violence have already fled at least once this year.
Hit by cyclones
Ms Emerson added that this latest wave of attacks has been particularly destabilizing for communities already hit by three cyclones in 2025.
“A large majority are children, 67 percent,” Ms Emmerson said. “There are huge concerns around protection, with reports of gender-based violence and separated or unaccompanied children. »
Most displaced families are now sheltering in crowded host communities, open areas and damaged schools where exams have been disrupted in several districts.
Aid distribution is falling well short of needs, the UN humanitarian chief noted, with only around 40 percent of people receiving “dismal” food aid, amid “significant stock shortages”.
Ms Emmerson warned that gaps in support are already forcing some families to return to unsafe areas “with very little information about the situation stabilizing”.
Beheadings among other horrors
United Nations agencies have repeatedly published alerts this week. On Tuesday, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said civilians described nighttime attacks, burning houses and summary executions by beheading as armed groups entered previously untouched neighborhoods. The agency highlighted serious resource shortages, calling the response “insufficient.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) added Friday that the children were pushed to the breaking point. He warned of “staggering” levels of displacement and an increase in serious violations, including kidnappings and recruitment. The UN agency said essential services – health, education, water and protection – are “strained under the weight of need” just as the cyclone season is set to intensify.
Humanitarian partners are calling for urgent funding to prevent further deterioration, warning that without rapid support the crisis will worsen and families could face further displacement within weeks.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
