Mozambique: Violence drives 100,000 people from their homes

To respond to the needs of the more than 100,000 people who were forced to flee their homes in northern Mozambique a few weeks ago, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) launched an emergency intervention in Nampula province. Since 4 December, MSF teams have been providing medical care and essential services in the areas of the Eráti district with the highest concentration of displaced families.

During November, a non-state armed group carried out multiple attacks in Nampula province, triggering the third and, so far, largest wave of displacement in northern Mozambique since July 2025. This wave of displacement is part of a broader humanitarian crisis caused by the eight-year-long conflict in Cabo Delgado, which has periodically spilt over into neighbouring provinces, including Nampula. Over 100,000 people fled their homes, according to the latest IOM data. In total, over 300,000 people have been forcibly displaced in northern Mozambique since late July.

While some displaced families have begun returning to their places of origin, these movements are not always the result of genuine safety or readiness. In certain cases, people make the difficult choice to go back, influenced by the prospect of receiving assistance.

“They explained that support would only be given there, in people’s home areas,” says José Maurício Alige, displaced from Mazua. “But people are afraid to go back. They are still carrying the nightmare in their hearts.”

Some people hop on vehicles that take them back to their villages to access aid, only to come back to Alua Sede and Alua Velha afterwards. Others prefer to remain in displacement sites despite the dire living conditions, citing ongoing insecurity, destroyed homes, and lost livelihoods.

“It’s better to stay here and be hungry than going back,” says Carita Varine, who fled repeated attacks in Memba district.

This approach to aid distribution leaves people without assistance at their point of greatest vulnerability, while also exposing them to further harm and undermining the principles of neutral, needs-based humanitarian response.

MSF is providing medical consultations, maternity services, nutrition support, and psychosocial counselling in Alua Velha, Alua Seda, and Miliva. In terms of health conditions, malaria remains the leading cause of consultations, followed by acute diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, and skin conditions. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, MSF is also supporting vaccination campaigns to protect displaced families from preventable diseases.

“Between 4 and 15 December, we have conducted over 860 medical consultations,” says Emerson Finiosse, an MSF medical doctor. “There is a high prevalence of malaria, with over 30 per cent of positive cases among the people who reach us.”

“Also, many women who come to our mobile clinics for ante-natal consultations are receiving this service for the first time, meaning that they had never started this important process before,” says Finiosse. “This is a worrying indicator of the state of the health system even before sudden displacements occur.”

The ongoing rainy season intensifies public health concerns, with a cholera outbreak confirmed in the districts of Eráti and Memba. In response to critical water and sanitation needs, MSF is constructing emergency latrines and water points. Additionally, MSF has rehabilitated an unused well in Miliva, ensuring safe drinking water for the community. Twelve new water taps have been installed in Alua Sede, which have capacity to serve 1,800 people per day.

The precarious living and sanitation conditions, in temporary shelters and with host families, raise health and protection concerns. The lack of adequate shelter forces many displaced people, most of whom are children, to sleep in open spaces or informal arrangements, exposing them to harsh weather and disease. Access to food remains one of the most pressing needs. Our teams witness the challenges faced by displaced people and the mounting pressure on host communities, highlighting the urgent need for transparent, neutral and needs-based humanitarian assistance that is delivered where people are. ​

MSF has launched a three-month emergency intervention in Eráti district, Nampula province, to address people’s escalating humanitarian and medical needs. We continue to provide vital healthcare services to host communities and people coping with violence and displacement in northern Mozambique. In Cabo Delgado, MSF runs projects in Mocímboa da Praia, Macomia, and Palma, and is supporting the response to a cholera outbreak in Nanlia. We provide general outpatient consultations, emergency care, maternity and paediatric services, treatment for HIV and tuberculosis, and mental health and psychosocial support.

In the first half of 2025, we carried out nearly 100,000 outpatient consultations and conducted group mental health activities for over 35,000 people. We run mobile clinics and outreach activities, refer patients to health centres, and support medical facilities and hospitals in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

People fetch water from a water point at Nandimba camp for displaced people in Mueda, Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique. Photographer: Igor Barbero| Date: 12/11/2025 | Location: Mueda

People displaced by the conflict in Cabo Delgado, a northern province in Mozambique, wait next to a truck on the outskirts of Mueda. They had previously been resettled in other areas of the province but are now aiming to reach Palma, a coastal town that was attacked earlier this year and where some people have already gradually returned. Photographer: Igor Barbero | Date: 10/12/2021 | Location: Cabo Delgado, MozambiqueAn MSF staff conducts a psycho-education session with children at the Nandimba camp for displaced people, in Mueda town, Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique. Photographer: Igor Barbero| Date: 12/11/2025 | Location: Mueda

Jane Rabothata

Communications Specialist, Doctors Without Borders

• jane.rabothata@joburg.msf.org
• 0712873613

About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.

In South Africa, we currently run a non-communicable diseases (NCDs) project in Butterworth, Eastern Cape province, where we support the Department of Health (DoH) in improving care for patients with diabetes and hypertension. The project focuses on improving screening, diagnosis, management, and prevention of NCDs through advocacy, research, health promotion, training, and mentorship of Community Healthcare Workers.

MSF is also recognised as one of the pioneers in providing antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the public sector. It started the first HIV programme in South Africa in 1999. The organisation's earlier interventions in the country have primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape). The Eshowe project was handed over to DoH in 2023 after 12 years of operations. The Khayelitsha project was closed in 2020 after 22 years of activities and campaigning for improved HIV and TB treatment.

Other projects we have been involved in include our Migrant Project in the country's capital, Tshwane, which was handed over to authorities and a local Community-Based Organisation after building the capacity to work with undocumented populations. We also previously offered free, high-quality, and confidential medical care to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Rustenburg, North West province.

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