Close to 10,000 Mozambicans have been turned away after attempting to cross into neighbouring Tanzania to escape instability in northern Mozambique, the United Nations revealed on Tuesday.
In an update on the humanitarian situation in Mozambique’s northern-most Cabo Delgado province, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said many people affected by the insurgency in the troubled Mozambican region have tried to seek asylum in Tanzania “but are systematically being forcibly returned to Mozambique.”
“According to UNHCR, almost 10,000 people were repatriated after entering Tanzania this year, half of them since May alone,” OCHA said.
It said about 70,000 Mozambicans have been forced to leave their homes since 24 March when Islamic State-linked insurgents attacked the coastal town of Palma.
The UN agency said humanitarian organisations have scaled up their responses to the crisis, but the “response is falling short of needs due to insecurity, access challenges and underfunding.”
“Aid agencies in Mozambique have received just about 11 percent of the US$254 million required to assist and protect 1.1 million people in the areas of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Nampula.”
OCHA called for more funding to meet the needs of the ever-increasing population of internally displaced persons in Mozambique.
JN/APA