30 March 2021
Supporting displaced people in Cabo Delgado
Since the incidents of October 2017 in Mocimboa da Praia, the terrorist attacks in northern Mozambique have continued to escalate, and the number of displaced citizens has grown considerably, with many families fleeing south as the situation worsens.
The teams at Gemfields and Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), our Mozambican mine owned in partnership with local company Mwiriti Limitada, are following developments carefully and offering our solidarity and support to the Mozambican people and the Government, as they work to restore peace and safety in the region.
While reports of the numbers of individuals displaced vary, MRM believes that approximately 60,000 people have now relocated to the area in and around Montepuez, with around 4,000 of these in Nanjua Village and 1,500 in Nanhupo Village. Gemfields confirms that these displaced people are not residing on the mine site itself, which is located in a remote rural area, but rather are seeking shelter within the province, gravitating mainly towards the larger towns and cities as they vacate areas of violence further north.
In January and again in April, MRM donated food to help these displaced people as the situation escalated, and Gemfields, MRM and the Gemfields Foundation are now working on new initiatives to provide even greater support.
We continue to monitor the situation closely.