Speaking from Erati in northern Mozambique, an area ravaged by conflict, Xavier Creach expressed concern about the attacks and the failure to respond sufficiently.
“These simultaneous attacks in several districts are generating an enormous challenge for humanitarian actors who have to multiply the emergency response in different areas of the country,” he stated.
“Unfortunately we lack resources”he added.
Houses burned, villages attacked
The violence, which began in 2017 in the country’s northernmost province, Cabo Delgado, has already displaced more than 1.3 million people.
This year it spread beyond the province and into Nampula, threatening communities that had previously hosted displaced families, according to the UN refugee agency.
People who reached safety say they fled in fear as armed groups stormed their villages (often at night), burning homes, attacking civilians and forcing families to flee without their belongings or documents.
“Civilians were killed, some even beheaded,” Creach said. “People had to flee at night in the most chaotic way.”
The sudden influx of displaced people into Nampula province is putting pressure on already fragile host communities, which are also facing insecurity. Schools, churches and open spaces are full of newly arrived families.
Running out of resources
This is the fourth massive flow that northern Mozambique has faced in recent months, Creach stressed.
“The response is insufficient,” he said. “People need help. They need food, they need shelter, they need water, they need support and they arrive traumatized.”
UNHCR will need $38.2 million in 2026 to meet growing needs across northern Mozambique. This comes at a deeply worrying time, with funding for 2025 sitting at only 50 percent of the required amount.
Creach said that on Tuesday morning, agency staff witnessed people returning to very unsafe areas, not to restart their lives, but due to a lack of response and overcrowded shelters.
“They felt they could not stay any longer and had no choice but to return..”