The world does not see or does not wish to see, what is happening in the province of Cabo Delgado in the far north of Mozambique. This is the view expressed by Paulo Rangel, a member of the European Parliament and vice president of the European Popular Party, about the situation currently unfolding in northeast Mozambique, where violent attacks by armed groups have already caused hundreds of deaths and leftover 200,000 people homeless. This should be an absolute priority for the international community, he believes; instead, it barely seems to have noticed.
Paulo Rangel (Portugal) – member of the European Parliament (Portrait from 2014) Credit: © European Union 2014 – Source: EP/EP Photo Service
“It is already becoming late to act, yet it is better to do so now rather than later. Since 2017 we have been confronted by this re-emerging and increasing situation, yet the international community is absolutely nowhere to be seen.” Speaking to the Portuguese national office of the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International), Rangel described the situation in the province of Cabo Delgado as “a powder keg” and appealed for help for the people affected by the violence, especially those uprooted and internally displaced, the people who have lost everything they have as a result of the attacks by these armed groups, who claim to belong to Daesh, or so-called Islamic State.