Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Catholic bishop of Pemba, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, Antonio Juliasse, has warned about the creation of what he called “the industry of suffering” which diverts humanitarian aid away from the internally displaced people, following the attacks by islamist terrorists.
Cited by the German agency DW Africa, Juliasse expressed his deep concern about a possible diversion of humanitarian aid and also called on the foreign military forces, deployed to fight the jihadists, to respect human rights.
“When there is great human misery, an industry of suffering can easily be created which will take advantage of the scourge of the displaced,” Juliasse said.
The industry of suffering, he added, may be set up by the humanitarian aid organisations through the creation of heavy working structures paying high salaries to their employees. These entities may channel larger sums of their financial resources to their own staff to the detriment of the population in dire need of aid.
He pointed out that the availability of goods for humanitarian support can trigger temptation to divert those goods, in a country with endemic levels of corruption,
“The high levels of corruption in Mozambique make the risk of humanitarian aid diversion very probable,” declared Juliasse, urging everyone to ensure that the humanitarian support which has been announced in favour of the displaced is made available to ease the predicament of those in need.
The bishop also urged the foreign forces being deployed in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado to fully respect human rights, otherwise the ongoing violence will surge. The contingents on the ground must seek to restore peace but respect human life.
Under no circumstances should the presence of foreign military forces result in an exacerbation of violence and abuses against the population. “May violence not continue and may the moves in a bid to combat terrorism not cause deaths”, he said
The presence of foreign forces in Cabo Delgado who will be fighting shoulder to shoulder with Mozambican Defence and Security Forces has opened a new cycle on the war on terrorism, but the end, he added, is unpredictable.
“It’s a new cycle and we are only seeing the start”, he said, adding that the Catholic Church will keep on following the situation very closely, trusting that God will put an end to the conflict.
