Nearly one million people are facing severe hunger in northern Mozambique, where hundreds of thousands have fled aggravated extremist violence, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on Tuesday.
Daesh-linked insurgents last month attacked Palma, a city in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado next to major gas projects under development by companies including Total and Exxon.
The World Food Program (WFP) said in a survey in Geneva that 950,000 people are now hungry in Mozambique. It appeals to donors for 82 million dollars to meet the crisis.
“Families and individuals have been forced to abandon their belongings and livelihoods and flee for safety … which has contributed to an already desperate situation in northern Mozambique,” said Tomson Phiri, a WFP spokesman.
Manuel Fontaine, director of the United Nations Children’s Fund for Emergencies, said of the same information: “We are facing a likely long-term humanitarian crisis.”
About 690,000 people had already been relocated across the country in February. Another 16,500 have since been registered in other areas of Cabo Delgado after fleeing the attack in Palma, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Tens of thousands more are still being displaced in the Palma district or are on the run, the UN humanitarian coordinating body, OCHA, said on Monday.
Many fled to a nearby village called Quitunda, built by French energy giant Total to house those displaced by their $ 20 billion gas project.
People there have little access to food, no protection and gather in hundreds on Total’s website every day desperately after evacuation, a witness told Reuters.
Total withdrew its staff from the site due to nearby rebellious activity on April 2, while WFP also stopped evacuation flights they had conducted.
Total has also suspended related activities in Pemba’s provincial capital, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Total did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Management and Disaster Reduction said on Monday that $ 7 billion ($ 126 million) is also needed to help those fleeing violence in Cabo Delgado, according to Portugal’s state news agency Lusa.
Authorities are still working to identify 12 decapitated bodies found in Palma after the attack, which both police and army officials believed were foreigners.
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