Northern Mozambique, destination for another rotation of Rwandan soldiers and police, is gripped by ongoing conflict exacerbated by natural disaster which has seen 25 000 plus people flee what the United Nations (UN) refugee agency calls “a worsening humanitarian crisis”.
“The situation is particularly dire in Cabo Delgado, where attacks by non-state armed groups continue to drive displacement, destroy infrastructure and disrupt recovery efforts,” Xavier Creach, UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) Mozambique Representative told a Geneva, Switzerland, media briefing.
The latest displacement numbers brings to just under 1.3 million people “uprooted” by violence, cyclones and social unrest, he said, adding thousands have lost their homes, some for the second and third time, and are again seeking safety in “already overstretched communities”.
Creach said President Daniel Chapo’s country was dealing with a triple crisis – armed conflict and displacement, recurring extreme weather events and months of post-electoral unrest.
His words came two days ahead of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Army Chief of Staff, Major General Vincent Nyakarundi briefing the latest rotation of the country’s security forces ahead of departure to Mozambique. He briefed Rwanda Army soldiers and Rwanda National Police (RNP) personnel, collectively known as the Rwanda Security Forces (RSF) for the Mozambique deployment, making them the only continental contributor to peacekeeping since the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) withdrew last July.
Rwanda’s first deployment to Mozambique to assist FADM (Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique) bring an ongoing Islamic insurgency in the north of the country to heel was in mid-2021 at the Mozambican government’s request. At that time the troop contributing countries to the Southern African regional bloc mission were Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
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