SW News: Catholics in the African nation of Mozambique are facing the onslaught of Muslim insurgents and the situation has aggravated to such a level that the future of the nation is at stake, warned a priest of the Sant’Egidio community. Addressing the media in Rome on July 21, Wednesday, Fr Angelo Romano appealed to the international community not to abandon the people of Mozambique who are facing the brunt of Islamic militancy.

The priest warned that the Islamist guerrillas want to establish an Islamic State in the former Portuguese colony. “It has started in the north, but … they want to conquer the whole country,” said Fr. Romano, who belongs to the Italian lay movement, which actively works to foster peace and dialogue.

The jihadist insurgency in Mozambique began in 2017 and slowly spread across the country. Militants have attacked Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province of Mozambique, over the years. In August 2020, the al-Shabaab Islamist militants linked to the Islamic State seized the port town of Mocimboa da Praia and, on March 2021, they overran Palma, killing dozens of civilians and displacing more than 35,000 people. As per the United Nations Refugee Agency reports, nearly 800,000 people have been displaced in Mozambique.

Speaking about the current internal displacement crisis, Fr. Romano said that “the overwhelming majority of internally displaced persons are welcomed by the population itself, often by relatives. Drawing attention to the disruption of education, especially of displaced children, Fr. Romano pointed out that unregistered internal refugees cannot go to school or access state services. Therefore, many projects of the Sant’Egidio Catholic community are focused on scholarships for high school students who are present in refugee camps and the construction of schools.