Mozambique: Displacement in Northern Cabo Delgado - Situation Report No. 1 (as of 15 March 2024)

Highlights

• A total of 112,894 people have been displaced since 22 December due to attacks or fear of attacks by non-State armed groups (NSAGs).

• The highest displacement is from Chiure in February, with 91,239 people having fled their homes. The attacks occurred in the middle of the harvest season, leaving farmers with no choice but to abandon their farmlands and livestock.

• More than 64,000 people have been reached with food assistance and 24,000 with shelter and non-food items as well as protection activities, such as family tracing, the provision of assistive devices, dissemination of key protection messages and referrals of vulnerable individuals to life-saving services, mental health, and psychosocial support, among others.

• Funding shortfalls prevent a multisectoral response at scale. Humanitarian partners are struggling to meet the needs of a rising number of IDPs.

Situation Overview

In December, confrontations between non-State armed groups (NSAGs) and the Security Defence Forces scaled-up, including violent attacks against civilians. NSAG movement south from Macomia, Mocimboa da Praia and Muidumbe towards Quissanga, Metuge, Mecufi and Chiure took place in February. In early March, non-State armed groups (NSAGs) attacked Quirimbas Island, in Cabo Delgado.

As of 4 March, IOM estimated that 112,894 people had been displaced in Cabo Delgado by attacks or fear of attacks by NSAGs. Children account for 62 per cent (61,492 people), women 23 percent (22,831 people) and men 15 percent (14,990 people). An estimated 91,239 people fled the postos of Chiure-Velho, Mazeze and Ocua in Chiure, seeking safety in Chiure, Metuge and Erati, Nampula. This was the first time since 2022 that Nampula saw an inflow of IDPs. In addition, over 5,000 people have sought safety in Macomia district headquarters.

Some 45,957 IDPs arrived in Namapa-district headquarters, in Erati district. The majority of the IDPs are hosted by communities, including in Praça 21 de Abril and Odinepa villages and Alua administrative. The majority of the IDPs are children and adolescents of school age. A verification exercise of displaced people is currently underway.

In Chiure, about 41,000 people are in host communities and are in temporary sites within the district headquarters. Some IDPs were moved to existing IDP sites without prior consultation. Community consultations noted that IDPs would have preferred staying in Chiúre headquarters to stay with family members or to have better access to services. IDPs in IDP sites, located outside the district headquarters, indicated that they have no financial means to pay for their transportation back to Chiúre district headquarters and felt the humanitarian assistance was conditioned to their relocation.

Some 8,230 people fled to Metuge, seeking refuge in makeshift houses and damaged huts provided or shared by local leaders.

Following NSAG attacks in January and February in the villages of Mucojo and Chai in Macomia people fled to the district headquarters, to Ibo District and to the provincial capital of Pemba. From 22 December to 27 February, some 5,719 IDPs were registered in Macomia, including IDPs from Macomia and from other districts. Some 1,171 people are currently accommodated in three IDP sites (Xinavane, Nanga A, and Nanga B centres) in Macomia district headquarters with the majority staying with the communities.

Common protection challenges faced by the displaced include family separation, mental distress, lack of civil documentation that would prevent protection risks and enable IDPs to access essential services. Some families reported that they have been separated from their nuclear family members and they do not know the status and whereabouts of those who remained behind. As of 5 March 2024, 154 missing children were registered and 182 unaccompanied children. Some children were able to be reunited with their families through family tracing efforts.

IDPs reported traumatic experiences and showed signs of distress, some reported witnessing the killing of their close family members, and the destruction of properties. Families whose close members were killed, abducted, and drowned are the most traumatized individuals who need immediate mental health support. Among the most vulnerable are older persons without support, persons with disabilities, persons with chronic medical conditions and pregnant women. Most of them are facing challenges in getting their medications or lost their assistive devices during the flight while others were separated from their primary caregivers. Displaced families also lost civil documents during their displacement. Women without civil documentation are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, discrimination, and other forms of gender-based violence. Men have experienced harassment, physical violence, and arbitrary detention by armed forces. In places where people took refuge in IDP sites, transit centre, and host communities, IDPs are exposed to protection risks arising from overcrowded spaces and lack of adequate place to rest.

Attacks on the healthcare system in Chiure, with the burning and looting of health facilities and the subsequent displacement of health workers with the population, resulted in the disruption in provision of health services. The overburdened health system, coupled with dire living conditions of IDPs and limited availability of health, water, and sanitation facilities, result in a high risk of cholera. There are 6,732 cholera cases in Nampula and Cabo Delgado (14 March 2024) and a conjunctivitis outbreak with 1,225 cases recorded between 25 February and 4 March. Schools in Chiure and Erati were also disrupted.

The latest spate of violence has occurred against a background of returns (601,866 people as of January 2024). As of January, 540,000 were recorded as being displaced in Cabo Delgado, with the highest number in Pemba City, Metuge and Macomia.

Funding constraints continue to restrict the ability of partners to scale up the response. While rapid response mechanisms have been activated to deliver first-line assistance that contributed to the survival of the affected people, these need to be sustained by the delivery of second-line humanitarian assistance. Replenishment of rapid response mechanisms is also required.

Humanitarian partners are appealing for funding for the 2024 HNRP which is 10 per cent funded. Humanitarian partners in Cabo Delgado estimated that some $7.5 million is urgently required to provide immediate life-saving assistance to 99,313 new IDPs and affected host communities for three months in Chiure and Erati.