AHMR African Human Mobilty Review - Volume 8 No 3, SEP-DEC 2022 others lost their lives.59 In January 2022, Tropical Cyclone Ana hit northern and central Mozambique, affecting 180,869 people. Less than two months later, Tropical Cyclone Gombe devastated Mozambique’s Nampula province with heavy flooding, displacing tens of thousands of people.60 Generally, this displacement happens internally. However, displacement across borders due to rapid onset disasters does, and will likely continue to occur, especially in scenarios where the government of the state in which the disaster occurs is unable or unwilling to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by it.61 It is generally believed that this displacement will be temporary, as affected persons will be able to return once the disaster or extreme weather event subsides, but this is not always the case. As stated, the government may not be able or willing to address the damage caused by the disaster, or the nature of the damage may be such that it renders the land permanently unsafe for return. In these scenarios, persons may find themselves permanently displaced across borders. When this displacement is combined with other factors, such as poor birth registration, loss of identity documentation, or protracted periods of displacement, such persons are at serious risk of statelessness. (d) Slow-onset disasters Like rapid-onset disasters, slow-onset disasters or weather events are scientifically proven to have increased as a result of climate change and will likely continue to increase in both frequency and severity.62 Examples include rising sea levels and desertification. Like rapid-onset disasters, displacement due to slow-onset disasters is likely to be internal. As stated above, the primary responsibility for providing aid and security for internally displaced persons (IDPs) falls on the relevant state. IDPs are often also assisted by humanitarian organisations, such as the UNHCR. An unfortunate reality is that governments may be unable or unwilling to help, and the UNHCR is limited in what it can do by the funding it receives. External migration Hellen E Msemo, Declan L Finney & Samwel I Mbuya ‘Forgotten accounts of tropical cyclones making landfall in Tanzania’ (2022) 77 Weather at 127; and Pedram Javaheri ‘A rare tropical cyclone is approaching one of Africa's most populated cities’ CNN 22 April 2021, available at https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/22/weather/jobo-forecast-tanzania-tropical-cyclone/index.html, accessed on 21 April 2022. 60 UNHCR ‘UNHCR and partners rush aid to thousands in Mozambique after Tropical Cyclone Gombe’ 22 March 2022, available at https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2022/3/623992774/unhcr-partners-rush-aid-thousands-mozambique-tropical-cyclone-gombe.html, accessed on 30 March 2022. 62 UNHCR ‘Climate change and statelessness: An overview’ 15 May 2009, available at https://www.unhcr.org/protection/ environment/4a1e50082/climate-change-statelessness-overview.html, accessed on 15 February 2022. See also CEDAW General recommendation No. 37 on gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change Pursuant to Article 21(1) of the Convention dated 7 February 2018. 62 IPCC ‘Special report on land desertification’ available at https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-3/, accessed on 10 October 2022; Robert Scholes & Francois Engelbrecht ‘Climate impacts in southern Africa during the 21st century, Report for the Centre for Environmental Rights’ September 2021, Global Change Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, available at https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Climate-impacts-in-South-Africa_Final_September_2021.FINAL_.pdf, accessed on 27 September 2022. 59 104