Mozambique: Thousands Flee Following Increase in Extremist Activity
Tens of thousands are on the move in northern Mozambique after an increase in attacks by Islamist militants.
Among the displaced is twenty-year old Maria. She had been living with family after having been previously displaced by violence in her hometown in on Mozambique’s northern coast, four years earlier. She had lost her mother in that attack.
“My father and I had taken refuge in the house of my father’s youngest brother in Chai,” she says. When Islamist militants arrived in the town early February, they burned down her uncle’s home. She was able to flee with her two-year-old daughter in her arms but, in the chaos, her father and uncle were shot.
Open Doors’ 2024 Gender Report, published this week, highlights how Christian women such as Maria, who are already vulnerable because of their gender and faith, are more at risk when violence escalates.
“Violence acts as a spark that exposes and exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities. Accordingly, in contexts where violence is high, faith-related sexual violence for women and physical violence for men, including lethal violence, are more common,” according to the report.
In Pemba, Maria has found refuge with another Christian family.
“We are horrified about the latest attacks in northern Mozambique which has displaced tens of thousands more people,” says Joshua Williams, leader of Open Doors’ work in sub-Saharan Africa. “These attacks confirm what we have been cautioning about for years – and confirms the ISIL affiliated group’s Islamic expansionist agenda to systematically gain control of large swathes of strategic land where they can establish an Islamic state. The goal is not only to control resources, but also to enforce their strict interpretation of Islamic law.”
Escalation
The escalation of violence in Cabo Delgado province started last month when Islamic State Mozambique attacked security forces, killing at least 20 soldiers. From then on they started to move through the region, attacking villages, sending its population fleeing.
In the raids they destroyed churches, homes and shops. There are also reports of beheadings and kidnappings [ACLED].
The Islamists encourage the local population to convert and impose taxes in return for protection of their homes and properties, reports Catholic news site Fides.
Because of the insecurity 125 more schools have been closed since January, disrupting the education of more than 68,000 children [UNICEF].
The rise in violence in recent months has displaced more than 70,000 people. Most of them are children (35,500) and women (14,500) [OCHA].
The Islamist extremist group Ahlu-Sunnah wal Jama’ah has waged an insurgency in Mozambique’s resource rich northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017. The militants aligned themselves with Islamic State in 2019.
Fighting between the group and Mozambique’s armed forces, backed by regional military troops, has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than 650.000 people from their homes. At least 2 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian aid [UNHCR].
“We call on Mozambique and her international partners to acknowledge the scale and seriousness of the situation in northern Mozambique while transparently and diligently working at addressing the root causes through both military and non-military means,” says Williams. “The situation in northern Mozambique has the potential to destabilize the larger region and break down cohesion among people of different faiths.”
Mozambique lands at 39 on the 2024 ranking of the most dangerous countries for Christians.
Pray
Join us in praying for all the displaced people in Mozambique and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Pray for Maria, her daughter, and other women who are facing increased levels of vulnerability because of the unstable situation.
