Displaced people return to their homes without support

Maputo, 3 Apr (AIM) – Displaced people from the administrative posts of Ocua, Chiúre-Velho and Mazeze, in Chiúre district, in the northern Mozambican Province of Cabo Delgado, who had moved to safe areas because of the extreme violence carried out by Islamist terrorists, have decided to return to their homes despite not receiving any support from the authorities.

According to local sources, cited in Wednesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Moçambique”, in the regions where their homes are located there is no presence of the Mozambican Defense and Security Forces (FDS), which means fear of terrorist attacks reigns within the communities.

The victims claim that they are returning without a guarantee of safety because, in the Chiure district capital, they do not have food or any other support in basic products.

The same regions lack public services such as education and health services, since the infrastructures were destroyed by the terrorists, and administration structures are not functioning.

“There is no private transport or means of transport allocated by the government. Some people go on foot or by motorbike-taxi. People are not returning because there is security, but because life is difficult. So, in their villages, people know where to find food, money. They have fields there”, a source said.

Around 45,000 displaced people from Chiúre district had taken refuge in the administrative post of Namapa, Eráti district, in the neighbouring province of Nampula.

However, the delegate of the country’s relief agency, the National Institute for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (INGD), in Nampula, Anacleta Botão, denied that there had been any exclusion of displaced families in the distribution of aid.

A source from Chiúre district government said that the District Executive recommends the return of State Officials and Agents, including the heads of administrative posts.

(AIM)

Ad/pf (305)