Africa-Press – Mozambique. The administrator of the district of Macomia, one of the targets of rebel attacks in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, said yesterday that he was unaware of any cases of abductions and recruitment by extremist groups that have been operating there since 2017.
“No, we as the district government do not have this information about child abductions, perhaps the UN [United Nations] has its sources. (…) But we, as the government, do not have this information about child abductions,” Macomia administrator Tomás Badae told journalists.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Tuesday about the increase in the number of children abducted by terrorist groups and used as forced labour, calling for government action.
“The increase in child abductions in Cabo Delgado worsens the horrors of the conflict in Mozambique. Al-Shebab needs to spare children from the conflict and immediately release those who have been abducted,” said HRW’s deputy director for Africa, Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, quoted in the statement from the human rights NGO.
In the statement, HRW indicates that children are abducted by rebels linked to the Islamic State group and used to “transport looted goods, perform forced labour, are forced into marriage and participate in conflicts”.
The human rights organization also states that data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicate that some abducted children, after being released, face difficulties in reintegrating into their communities.
Serious violations against children
Mozambique had the second-highest percentage increase (525%) in serious violations against children in armed conflicts in 2024, behind only Lebanon, according to a recent UN report.
The data is contained in the UN Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict in 2024, which indicates that the largest percentage increases were recorded in Lebanon (545%), Mozambique (525%), Haiti (490%), Ethiopia (235%) and Ukraine (105%).
In a chapter dedicated to the conflict in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, the report indicates that the UN verified 954 serious violations against 507 children (402 boys, 105 girls), in addition to one serious violation that occurred in 2023, but which could only be verified last year.
“The recruitment and use of 403 children (332 boys, 71 girls) by armed groups was verified,” the report reads, as was “the detention of 51 children (20 boys, 31 girls) by the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (49) and the Rwanda Defence Force (2) for alleged association with armed groups”.
The UN was also able to verify “the killing (32) and maiming (12) of 44 children (31 boys, 13 girls) by unidentified perpetrators (22), armed groups (15) and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (7),” including “casualties caused by explosive ordnance (17)”.
Also last year, the UN verified the abduction of 468 children by armed groups in this conflict, including for recruitment. Eleven minors were released.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in the province, an increase of 36% compared to the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defense that analyses conflicts in Africa.
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