The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the authorities in Mozambique to quickly move to ensure humanitarian aid reaches residents who have been trapped in Mocimboa da Praia.
The HRW made the call after the Mozambican and Rwandan government forces retook control of the town from an armed group, locally known as Al-Shabab or mashababos.
Development Diaries understands that the United Nations World Food Programme and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) were forced to abandon the town in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province in 2020 for security reasons.
Most residents had abandoned the villages surrounding Mocimboa de Praia following previous attacks by the armed group.
Many others fled the coastal town last August, walking several days in the bush or spending days at sea without food or water until reaching the shores of the provincial capital, Pemba.
An unknown number of people stayed in Mocimboa da Praia, some shown in recent footage shared by Mozambican and Rwandan state media.
‘The government should immediately facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Mocimboa da Praia, meeting obligations as a member state of the Kampala Convention, an African Union treaty on internal displacement, and under international humanitarian law’, HRW said in a statement on its website.
It also noted, ‘The joint Mozambique and Rwanda forces deployed to Mocimboa da Praia should uphold human rights and prevent abuses against the population.
‘Government forces and non-state armed groups are obligated under international humanitarian law to protect civilians under their control and remove them from the vicinity of military operations.
‘The Mozambican government should move quickly to fully secure Mocimboa da Praia town and surrounding villages before residents return to their homes. Failure to do so could place thousands at risk from further attacks by Al-Shabab and fighting between the group and government forces’.
Rwanda last month sent 1,000 soldiers to Mozambique to fight the militants, who launched an insurgency in 2017.
Over 3,000 people have been killed and 820,000 displaced during the conflict.
Source: HRW
Photo source: UN Mozambique/Helvisney Cardoso
