
London, 19 Sep (AIM) – The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has noted the return of 571,468 internally displaced people (IDP) to their areas of origin in Mozambique over recent months.
In its latest operational update, published on Monday, UNHCR states that 850,599 people remain internally displaced due to violence by islamist terrorism and “the devastating impact of the climate crisis”.
On the climate crisis, it highlights the fact that Mozambique is “one of the most adversely affected countries in the world” and that “the double landfall of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in February and March 2023, a year following the devastating Tropical Cyclone Gombe, affected over one million people, destroyed infrastructure, and displaced some 184,000 people”.
Mozambique has the additional burden of hosting 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers.
UNHCR is working closely with the Mozambican government to provide lifesaving protection services and assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people, returnees, and host communities.
However, as of 31 August it had only received 21.3 million US dollars out of its annual budget for Mozambique of 47.5 million. This represents just 45 per cent of the funds required for UNHCR operations for the two million people in critical need of assistance and protection.
According to UNHCR, 668,939 internally displaced people (79 per cent of the total) have fled conflict in northern Mozambique whilst a further 181,660 have been forced from their homes by extreme weather events. It estimates that 45 per cent of IDPs are living in relocation sites with the others living in host communities.
(AIM)
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