Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday expressed concern over an Islamic State-linked group abducting increasing numbers of children in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

According to HRW, the armed group, locally known as Al-Shabab, has kidnapped at least 120 children in recent days. Although some children were released by the group, a number of them remain missing. Moreover, those who have returned to their communities struggle with reintegration. Abducted boys and girls are forced into labor, marriages, fighting, and looted good transportation.

Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, the deputy Africa director at HRW stated that:

Mozambique’s government needs to take concrete actions to safeguard children and prevent armed groups from using them as tools of conflict. There is a need to ensure that there are robust reintegration measures so that the children are not further ostracized when they come back to the community.

HRW further emphasized the need to provide rescued children with medical care and psychosocial assistance as well as the government’s role in implementing measures to prevent further abductions and holding perpetrators accountable.

The statement follows a recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on increased child abductions in Mozambique that highlighted the “rising trend in reports of abduction, recruitment, and use of children by non-state armed groups” in violation of children’s rights.

Mozambique’s Constitution, as well as the Law on the Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights 2008, enshrine the state’s duty to prevent violence, exploitation, and abuse against children. This aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Additionally, Rule 137 of Customary International Humanitarian Law, and Article 8(2)(b)((xxvi) of the Rome Statute criminalize recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities as a war crime.

The crisis in Mozambique started in 2017 with an Islamic State-led insurgency in Cabo Delgado. The violent insurgency resulted in the destabilization of the country and a weakened domestic economy.

Amnesty International also recently released a comprehensive report on human rights violations in Mozambique following the 2024 election. The report exposed the unlawful use of force and arbitrary detentions by the Mozambique government.