[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7534-S7535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               MOZAMBIQUE

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise to call attention to the rapidly 
burgeoning Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique, which is 
dragging that country into ever-increasing violence and chaos. In the 
past decade, Mozambique has taken steps to resolve a decades-long civil 
war and while peace remains elusive, with longstanding support from the 
United States, there has been progress. This progress, when coupled 
with the 2010 discovery of enormous natural gas reserves in the remote 
northern province of Cabo Delgado, could have changed the development 
course of the country. But a new conflict has emerged in Mozambique 
that threatens all of the potential gains for the citizens of the 
province and the entire country.
  The origins of this extremist insurgency share traits with many 
others globally: a marginalized community's grievance against corrupt 
and distant rulers, fueled and brutally exploited by radical Islamist 
ideologues, has allowed extremism to take root and gain traction, while 
the innocent majority of the local population bears the cost. The 
extremists have proclaimed allegiance to ISIS and have rapidly 
developed increasingly sophisticated military capabilities; 
Mozambique's poorly trained security forces have proven unable to 
vanquish the group. It is an insurgency on the advance. It has seized 
seizing entire towns and now controls considerable territory.
  The insurgents, who have attracted foreign fighters and recently 
launched attacks into neighboring Tanzania, have used horrific acts of 
terror--including systematic use of arson, murder, often including 
beheadings, and kidnapping--to force compliance with their aims. Their 
acts have effectively displaced more than 500,000 people in Cabo 
Delgado, creating a severe humanitarian crises. In 1 week in November 
alone, more than 10,000 people fled to the port city of Pemba, many in 
rickety, unsafe boats. A significant of these internally displaced 
persons now languish in crowded, unsanitary conditions.
  What can be done to solve this crisis? And what should be the role of 
the United States, which today appears to be retreating from Africa? 
This year has perhaps taught us more than any in recent memory that 
stability and security around the world can directly impact the 
stability and security of the United States. We have a sustained 
interest in helping to support innocent, suffering people and promoting 
stability.
  The security aspect of the threat requires a security solution. 
However, the Mozambican security forces have demonstrated that they 
cannot effectively respond to this threat without assistance. It is 
clear that they lack proper training and equipment, and a substantial 
body of reporting has established that elements of these forces have 
frequently committed serious human rights abuses, as well as engaged in 
petty corruption targeting the local impoverished population. The 
Mozambican Government must take steps to ensure that state security 
forces are not only effective, but that they also engage in such a 
manner that earns the trust of the population they are charged with 
protecting
  The good news is that the international community has begun to 
respond. The U.S.'s counterterrorism coordinator recently visited 
Maputo to offer our assistance to the government. European countries 
have also pledged to assist with building Mozambique's security 
capacities. Any such counterterrorism support must include rigorous 
human rights training, as well as improvements in civil-military 
relations and effective intelligence-gathering. The government should 
also be pressed to reduce its reliance on local militias, who have even 
less training and accountability than government troops.
  The humanitarian crisis also demands immediate action. Of the half 
million people who have been displaced, 41 percent are children. The 
provinces of northern Mozambique that host most of these newly 
displaced people are among the poorest in one of the world's least-
developed countries and have little capacity to assist those affected 
by the crisis. In total, more than 1.3 million people in northern 
Mozambique are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and 
protection, according to the U.N. The international community must step 
up and fully fund

[[Page S7535]]

the modest request of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs, which has said that it requires $254 million to 
provide humanitarian assistance through 2021.
  Counterterrorism training and humanitarian assistance alone, however, 
are not enough to defeat ISIS in Mozambique. They are only tools to 
respond to the immediate crisis. To effectively address the root causes 
of the conflict--the social and economic inequalities that have allowed 
extremism to take hold and flourish--the Mozambican Government and 
international partners must assist in reaching the country's 
increasingly-alienated northern communities. The government must engage 
with its northern citizens and deliver what the majority of the 
population wants and expects: better governance and critical social 
services. The international community can help by collaborating and 
coordinating their engagement with the government on a package of 
development aid that helps to address poor governance, increases 
transparency and fights corruption, effectively delivers health and 
education services, and fosters job opportunities and local 
entrepreneurship. Mozambique and its international partners also must 
scale up programs aimed at countering extremist ideology and promoting 
defections from the insurgency.
  Donors must also hold the government's feet to the fire on its 
obligation to invest it its own citizenry, including by insisting that 
the government develop its natural resources--notably the gas reserves 
in Cabo Delgado--in an equitable, transparent, manner that results in 
that a significant portion of prospective natural gas revenues being 
invested in the provinces that host Mozambique's gas resources.
  As the conflict grows in scope and intensity, the United States will 
need to further develop a coordinated, interagency strategy, one which 
uses all the levers of American power--diplomatic, development, and 
defense--to address Cabo Delgado's military, humanitarian, and 
development crisis and to work with regional partners on to both inform 
and implement such a strategy.
  The situation in Mozambique is dire, and unfortunately it has not 
attracted an appropriate level of attention from policymakers. It is 
tragic to see a country that seemed to be on the cusp of transformation 
dragged back into conflict. The situation is not hopeless. The United 
States and its partners can together effectively help Mozambique defeat 
this insurgency and support the Mozambican people's aspirations for a 
more hopeful future, but the situation is urgent. We must act now.

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