Caught between the ‘guerilla’ and the colonial state: refugee life in Northern Mozambique during the Independence War (1964-1974)

My contribution examines the war experiences of people in Northern Mozambique during the Mozambican War of Independence (1964-1974). The focus is on the province of Niassa and on those people who moved into the remote and sparsely populated woodlands where the Mozambican nationalists had set up their bases. These people were subjected to constant persecution by the colonial troops, who tried to force them back into the Portuguese sphere of influence using a scorched earth policy. Based on oral history interviews and Portuguese military sources, the paper offers six main observations about the experiences of these people, highlighting how the persecution by Portuguese forces caused much hunger, which drove the majority to flee abroad or return to the Portuguese sphere influence after only a short time.