Tanzania Sending Refugees Back to Danger, Insurgency in Mozambique

FILE PHOTO: Displaced women sit on mats after fleeing an attack claimed by Islamic State-linked insurgents on the town of Palma, at a displacement centre in Pemba, Mozambique, April 2, 2021. REUTERS/Emidio Jozine/File Photo

The United Nations voiced concern for Mozambicans at a press briefing in Geneva this week. Tanzania is sending refugees from northern Mozambique back into danger. Witnesses say at least 1,500 people were returned this month; many of them women and young children.

Voice of the Martyrs Canada CEO Floyd Brobbel is concerned about believers in this group following the end of Ramadan. “Religious leaders can use this type of spiritual event to bolster strong religious fervor,” he explains.

“[It] often becomes a justification for propagating violence against those that are not part of their religion; in this case, non-Muslims.”

Christians in northern Mozambique face the most danger, Brobbel says. Terrorists allegedly supported by the Islamic State have turned the region into a warzone. Attacks forced more than 700,000 people to flee in recent months.

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“Mozambique is primarily a Christian country, but Cabo Delgado, which is in the north, is predominantly Muslim,” Brobbel says.

“This group is [causing] insurgency and unrest. They’re attacking not only churches but a lot of schools and government buildings and things like that.”

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SOURCE: Mission Network News, Katey Hearth

CALL TO ACTION

• Pray for stability and peace in northern Mozambique.
• Ask the Lord to help His followers reach those in need.