Palma attack in Mozambique: in Pemba, improvised reception of displaced people fleeing violence
Audio 01:35
Residents of Palma who fled the violence found refuge in a gymnasium in Pemba, the capital of the region, on April 2, 2021. AFP - ALFREDO ZUNIGA
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
While in Paris, the situation of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, is on the menu of the meeting between the French president and his Mozambican counterpart, in Pemba, capital of the region, the flow of displaced people fleeing violence near the Tanzanian border continues.
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With our special correspondent in Pemba
,
Liliana Henriques
Pemba was known not so long ago as a little piece of tourist paradise on the shores of the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
For just over three years, Pemba has become a refuge for thousands of displaced people fleeing violence near the Tanzanian border.
On March 24
, the city of Palma was invaded.
Mumade Ali, 27, a tailor, fled with four members of his family.
He set out to sea and was surprised by the terrorists who took everything he had left.
He is now housed in a gymnasium in Pemba like hundreds of other people whose only good is a mat and a bundle.
“
I fled the day of the attack and when we arrived on an island, we were intercepted by a group of terrorists.
They took everything from us.
We survived.
My sister stayed with her children in Palma, I have no news.
"
Among the flood of displaced people who continue to arrive by boat at the port of Pemba, some are expected.
They will meet not far from there, in a district with narrow streets with houses made of wood and sheet metal.
They will be accommodated by a family member.
Josina Fernandes has lived in Pemba for six years.
She comes from Macomia, further north.
She accommodates 36 people in her home.
“
There are 36 of us here. They sleep under the mosquito net, others on mats, others on sheets.
We sleep like this.
To eat, we have help.
"
According to official figures, since the attacks began in northern Mozambique, more than 2,500 people have been killed and some 700,000 others are now internally displaced, out of a population of 30 million.
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To read also:
Mozambique: in Cabo Delgado, "the situation is critical", warns the UNHCR
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