Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned today of the existence of serious disorders and traumas among the populations displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, highlighting the need to strengthen support for psychosocial assistance projects.
"The situation is serious because these are people who are victims of extreme violence: that is war," Sérgio Cabral, a doctor who coordinates the non-governmental organization (NGO) in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, said in an interview with Lusa.
In total, official figures point to the existence of more than 800,000 displaced persons from the northern districts of the province during the last four years of armed conflict in Cabo Delgado, people who have lost almost everything and seek refuge in the various shelters created by the authorities or in the homes of relatives and friends in the so-called safe zones in the south of the province.
"They have to live in makeshift camps, sometimes without water and sanitation conditions. There are several accumulated psychological upheavals," Sérgio Cabral stressed, adding that although they are "very resilient and psychologically strong" people, they are severely traumatized.
For Sérgio Cabral, with the tendency for the situation to normalize in recent months, with the reconquest of important points that were dominated by the insurgent groups and the rehearsals for reconstruction in the areas affected by the conflict, a reinforcement in the support of psychosocial aid projects is fundamental for the health of the displaced populations.
"It is often during recreational activities that these problems manifest themselves," he stressed.
In addition to the drama of psychological trauma, in reception centers and in the homes of host families of displaced people, malaria is among the main challenges for the populations, with figures showing almost 30,000 confirmed cases out of a total of 80,000 consultations made by MSF's mobile clinics in the last six months.
"In the case of malaria, Mozambique was decreasing the incidence in recent times. But in the year 2021 there was a much higher peak than the previous years. With this armed violence, with all this war and the displacement of people, in addition to the precarious conditions in the camps, this affected the preventive service, which is very important to contain the disease," he said.
In addition to psychological assistance and cases of malaria, according to the head of the NGO, the lack of infrastructure and health facilities will be a new challenge in the reconstruction, especially in the reception centers that have been transformed into new neighborhoods.
"There is a deficit because health facilities, ambulances, and doctors have also been targeted by this violence. Workers had to flee, buildings were burned or destroyed," the doctor lamented.
Armed attacks by insurgents in northern districts of Cabo Delgado have caused more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.
The fight against insurgents in Cabo Delgado gained a new momentum, when on August 08 joint forces from Mozambique and Rwanda reconquered the strategic port town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been in the hands of the rebels for more than a year and was considered a "base" for these armed groups, having been the place where the rebels carried out their first attack in October 2017.
Lusa Agency