In just eight days, between July 20 and 28, 2025, a fresh wave of violent attacks by armed groups in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province has forced at least 46,667 people from their homes, according to the United Nations.
The renewed violence, mainly targeting the districts of Chiúre, Ancuabe, and Muidumbe, is worsening an already precarious humanitarian crisis in a region battered by years of conflict, climate shocks, and chronic underfunding.
The epicenter of this latest displacement is Chiúre district, where over 42,000 people, with more than half of them children, have been uprooted from their living places. Communities fled villages like Chiúre Velho, Mazeze, and Ocua, relocating to Chiúre Sede’s neighborhoods of Bairro Micone and Bairro Namicir.
Attacks Leave Children Separated, Families Homeless
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) report disturbing trends in the affected communities: rising numbers of unaccompanied or separated children, rapid increases in displacement within a single week, and worsening access to food, shelter, and essential services. In Ancuabe, the number of displaced families nearly tripled in one week to 444 households, including over 1,200 children, after attacks forced them to flee from Nanduli village.
In Muidumbe district, militants reportedly torched homes in Magaia village and opened fire near Mungue, pushing nearly 500 families into already overwhelmed displacement sites. These sites lack adequate infrastructure, resources, and security, further exposing civilians to new threats even after escaping initial violence.
Legal and Ethical Violations Raise Alarm
Mozambique’s handling of the crisis has drawn criticism from legal experts, who warn that the country is falling short of its obligations under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and the African Union’s Kampala Convention, both of which require governments to protect and assist internally displaced persons (IDPs).
JURISTnews, a legal news service run by the George Washington University Law School, pointed to the increasing number of undocumented and unaccompanied minors in Cabo Delgado as evidence of systemic failure. “The government must prioritize the protection of vulnerable civilians and ensure access to legal documentation and safe relocation,” it stated.
OCHA echoed this sentiment, warning that a lack of civil documentation among IDPs may significantly limit their ability to move freely, access healthcare and education, and reestablish livelihoods. Involuntary relocations, restrictions on movement, and lack of access to basic services are exacerbating the vulnerability of already traumatized populations.
A Crisis of Funding and Access
As the humanitarian needs mount, relief agencies are facing an acute funding shortfall that threatens to cripple the response. Mozambique’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which requires $352 million to support over 1 million people, is currently only 19% funded. Just $66 million has been received so far.
This dire lack of funding has forced aid agencies to drastically scale back their operations. Instead of reaching the initially targeted 1.1 million people, relief efforts now focus on just 317,000, a cut of over 70%.
“Urgent and sustained funding is essential to prevent further deterioration and address the escalating humanitarian needs that remain as acute and widespread as ever,” said OCHA in a bulletin released over the weekend.
The consequences of this shortfall are severe: fewer food distributions, limited access to medical care, and inadequate shelter provisions in displacement sites that are already overcrowded and under-resourced.
A Country At Crossroads
The displacement crisis in Cabo Delgado is not a standalone emergency. It is part of a broader web of overlapping threats that are pushing northern Mozambique to the brink of collapse. Since the insurgency began in 2017, over one million people have been displaced. While some areas have seen temporary returns, the resurgence of attacks in July reveals a persistent volatility that undermines any prospects for long-term recovery.
Children, who make up more than half of those displaced in this latest wave, face especially grim prospects. Separated from their families, without access to school or health care, and exposed to exploitation and difficult living conditions, they represent a generation at risk of being lost to conflict.
The destruction of homes and loss of identification documents further erode the chances of return or reintegration. With civil infrastructure in tatters, displaced families are trapped in a cycle of dependency, one that Mozambique’s underfunded relief system cannot sustain for long.
The renewed attacks demonstrate that armed groups retain both capability and intent to destabilize the region, even as the Mozambican military and regional forces continue operations to contain them. Humanitarian access remains fragile and uneven, especially in conflict-affected zones like Muidumbe, where aid convoys face ongoing threats, and the underfunding of the response signals a disturbing fatigue within the international donor community. Despite the worsening conditions, global attention and money have shifted elsewhere. Without a renewed commitment to funding, Mozambique’s humanitarian crisis risks sliding into one of the world’s most neglected emergencies.
To avert a full-scale humanitarian disaster in Cabo Delgado, several urgent actions are required. Donors should urgently meet the $352 million appeal to allow humanitarian actors to restore and expand operations, and the Mozambican government must streamline the reissuance of lost identification documents, ensure the protection of IDPs, and work with international partners to uphold human rights obligations.
While emergency aid is critical, long-term investment in livelihood restoration, housing, and civil infrastructure is essential to break the cycle of displacement and dependence.
As Cabo Delgado faces a crisis that threatens to tear Mozambique apart, the question is no longer whether the country is facing a humanitarian crisis; it is whether the world is willing to act before it becomes a catastrophe beyond repair.
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