‘The memory comes back’: Abducted children return traumatised in Mozambique

Protection risks

June 2025 witnessed a deepening humanitarian situation crossed bluish Mozambique, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): The unit by al-Shabab “drove caller displacement, disrupted indispensable services, severely restricted movement, exacerbated nutrient insecurity, and impeded the transportation of life‑saving assistance”.

Sitoe explains that the struggle shifted dramatically successful April 2024, erstwhile troops from the Southern African Development Community Mission successful Mozambique (SAMIM) began withdrawing. That ngo that began successful October 2023 ended connected July 15, 2024.

“This has been the astir important origin successful the caller escalation of violence.”

According to the UN, 699,000 internally displaced radical person already returned home. Returns person been driven by a wide betterment successful security, acknowledgment to Mozambique’s army, section forces and the Rwandan service - but besides by the mediocre conditions successful displacement camps and the deficiency of basal services.

The latest question of displacement occurred connected June 24, erstwhile 568 radical - including 324 children - fled al-Shabab attacks successful Quinto Congresso colony and sought refuge successful the overcrowded territory centre of Macomia. With this latest displacement, the fig of radical uprooted by the struggle since the opening of the twelvemonth has reached 48,000.

In 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur connected the quality rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Paula Gaviria Betancur, concluded that the process to alteration radical to instrumentality location was plagued by the lack of a structured, ceremonial and transparent consultation mechanics for IDPs:

“Local authorities and assemblage leaders person actively encouraged, pursued oregon exerted indirect unit connected IDPs to instrumentality to their places of root either by promising humanitarian assistance oregon providing inaccurate oregon incomplete accusation astir conditions successful spot of return, thereby hampering their quality to marque an informed and afloat voluntary decision,” she wrote successful her end-of-mission statement.

Today, successful a state of astir 2 million, astir a 4th of the colonisation - 461,000 - remains internally displaced, contending with nutrient shortage, household separation, and terrible intelligence trauma.