Paper short abstract:

Mistrust, community resilience and the specter of violence: IDPs and Host Communities relations in Nampula and Cabo Delgado - Mozambique as potential cause of intra communities' conflicts.

Paper long abstract:

Mozambique has currently about 946,508 so-called IDPs (Internally Displaced People) in northern Mozambique (Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado, were where thousands of people moved during the last five years of conflict. The influx of IDPs, most of them vulnerable and without the possibility to establish adequate living conditions, generates considerable friction with the already existing communities. Partially, such conflict derives from cultural, ethnic, and religious differences, as well as reflecting non-existent job opportunities and land scarcity. In this article we draw on fieldwork as well as written and digital material to focus on two contested domains within this situation:

First, we map how such frictions arise, paying particular attention to a commonly held view among the residents that the IDPs are being favorably treated by the humanitarian agencies—particularly providing these with opportunities for education, food, and health services.

Second, we also map how the issue of land scarcity exacerbate and compromise potential peaceful coexistence between displaced and host communities, particularly mapping how host communities refuse to give up part of their land to displaced families, with the suspicion that they will not return to their areas of origin and, thus, casting the IDPs as not belonging to the area.

Building on the mapping of these domains, we draw on contemporary work within African studies and social sciences on (mis)trust, suspicion and belonging to 1) analyze and gauge the resilience of these communities in relation to potential instances of intra-community violence, tense situation.