Côte d'Ivoire

Population: 28,713,423 

Capital City: Yamoussoukro

Independence from France 7 August 1960  

Government type: Presidential Republic 

Main Parties/Dominant Parties: Rally of Houphouёtist for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA) and the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) 

President: Alassane Dramane Ouattara (since December 2010)

Economic activities: The Ivorian economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector. 

Transport: Infrastructure is not well-advanced. 

Climatic/environmental issues: The country has three seasons – warm and dry seasons (November to March), hot and dry seasons (March to May), and hot and wet seasons (June to October).

Ethnic groups: Akan 28.9%, Voltaique or Gur 16.1%, Northern Mande 14.5%, Kru 8.5%, Southern Mande 6.9%, unspecified 0.9%, Non-Ivorian 24.2%Official languages: French is the official language.

Religions: Muslim 42.9%, Catholic 17.2%, Evangelical 11.8%, Methodist 1.7%, other Christian 3.2%, Animist 3.6%, other religion 0.5%, none 19.1%

Social issues: Unemployment, poor education, HIV/AIDS, and teenage pregnancy 

Neighbouring countries: Liberia, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso

The most relevant law governing the identification of persons and the stay of foreigners in Ivory Coast relates to the migration policy: Law No. 2004-303 of 2004 amending Law No. 90-437 of 29 May 1990 on the entry and stay of foreigners in Ivory Coast (IOM, 2019). Law No. 2016-1111 is Ivory Coast’s law against human trafficking, and Law No. 2018-571, combating the smuggling of migrants, is enforced (Ibid). The asylum law in Ivory Coast is still in draft form and is yet to be adopted. At the regional level, Ivory Coast is a Member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has as one of its main objectives to facilitate the movement of people within the region and ultimately remove obstacles to the free movement of goods and services, capital, and labour. Migrants have access to all public health and education services regardless of their status, although they are not eligible for medical schemes financed by the state. Tertiary education fees for international students are often higher than for nationals, depending on whether they are ECOWAS nationals or not (Ibid). In line with the 1999 social security code, all workers in Ivory Coast, regardless of their nationality, are entitled to the benefits of the National Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale, CNPS) (Ibid). Ivory Coast has agreements on the portability of retirement pensions with countries such as Burkina Faso. However, migrants do not have access to the government social housing programme and are not able to be employed in the civil service. Ivory Coast grants nationality to migrants through marriage, naturalization, declaration, and adoption (Ibid). 

In 2013, Ivory Coast ratified the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), the 1954 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. In 1998, the country ratified the 1969 Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problem in Africa, while in 1961, it ratified the 1961 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva Convention) and in 1991, ratified the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The implementation of these treaties will assist in providing durable solutions to people on the move.  

Internal migration was encouraged in the 1960s in Ivory Coast when the country enjoyed economic prosperity. Like elsewhere in most parts of Africa, Ivory Coast experienced rural-urban migration. This movement contributed massively to the urbanization of Ivorian cities, causing more than 50% of its population to live in cities (Dick & Schraven, 2021). There is no recent data on internal migration in Ivory Coast. The 1998 Ivorian census data indicates that there were 4,405,328 internal migrants in Ivory Coast constituting 28.7% of the total population, and most of these migrants live in cities (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, 2017) due to customs of exogamic marriage and being more likely to help parents in their household, women are more likely than men to engage in internal migration. 

An estimated 50.5% of internal migrants were female (Ibid). However, because of urban poverty, there has been an increase in internal migrants from urban areas to rural areas recently. Between 2002 and 2015, the urban poverty rate in Ivory Coast grew substantially from 24.5% to 35.9% (Knoema, 2020). 

In 2010, 46.6% (1,102,789) of the international migrant stock were women. In 2015, the female international migrant stock stood at 46.6% (1,150,088). In 2019, it was estimated to be 46.6% (1,187,881) of the international migrant stock (UN DESA, 2019). Even though as a percentage of the total migration stock into Ivory Coast female migrant stock has been stable from 2010 to 2019, the actual numbers have slightly increased as the number of male migrants increased. Female migration into the Ivory Coast, especially from other parts of Africa is informed by several factors, inter alia, the search for seasonal jobs and the continuous political instability characterised by civil wars within the sub-region. Within the sub-region, Ivory Coast is one of four countries (Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) with the lowest number of female migrants as a percentage of the total migration stock (ILO, 2020). However, the percentages of women migrants from the Ivory Coast as a stock of the total Ivorian migrant population are higher for migrant girls (54.1%) and young women (69.3%) than for boys and young men (Ibid). 

With the valorisation of agricultural land for cocoa production and the demand for foreign labour in the Ivory Coast, the search for paid work to support their family members back home through remittances precipitated the movement of most Burkinabe’s to the Ivory Coast (MIDEQ, nd). In 2013, Burkina Faso accounted for 60% of the immigrant population in the Ivory Coast (Traore & Torvikey, 2022). Recently, through its regional framework - ECOWAS, by implementing the protocol of the free movement of people within the sub-region, Ivory Coast has facilitated the movement of migrant labour from other parts of Africa and most especially within the region into the country. Ordinance No. 2007-604 of 8 November 2007 emphasises that nationals of ECOWAS member states do not need a residence permit to stay in Ivory Coast but fails to elaborate on their access to the labour market. However, the relevant ECOWAS Protocol excludes the principle of the labour market test, which logically means that ECOWAS member states are not required to obtain a work authorisation to work in Ivory Coast (United Nations, 2015). Although not all immigrants are part of the labour force, in Ivory Coast, 85.5% of the immigrant population does constitute part of the labour force participation in the country (Ibid).

According to the US Department of State (2023), Ivory Coast is a Tier 2 country as the government is making significant efforts in some respects but does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Ministry of Solidarity is the lead agency for combatting trafficking in person, and the Ministry of Employment is responsible for combating child labour with the support of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Fight against Trafficking, Exploitation, and Child Labour. However, the government is making a significant effort to meet the minimum standard. Ivory Coast is a source, transit, and destination country for victims of human trafficking, specifically forced labour, sex trafficking, and partly, drug trafficking. In line with the National Strategy and National Plan for Combating Trafficking in Persons, the National Committee against Trafficking of Persons oversees the responsibility of implementing these laws (IOM, 2019b). Ivory Coast has concluded a formal agreement with other countries, for example, Burkina-Faso, to combat human and child trafficking. Despite the commitment through a legal framework to combat human trafficking in Ivory Coast, resources, inspections, remediation, and penalties are inadequate (Ibid). According to the US Department of State (2023), the government identified 1,185 trafficking victims (419 sex trafficking and 766 forced labour victims), mostly nationals from Nigeria, Vietnam, and Thailand during the reporting year. Children constitute a share of the number of victims of human trafficking in Ivory Coast. An NGO estimated that there were more than 790,000 children, ages 5 to 17, exploited on Ivorian cocoa plantations (Ibid). Because of the limited support provided by adults to children, and the lack thereof in some instances makes them vulnerable to re-victimization. The government runs shelters for child victims of exploitation in Soubre and refers child trafficking victims to NGOs for long-term care (Ibid). 

Traffickers exploit Ivorian women and girls in forced labour in domestic service, restaurants, and sex trafficking. Ivorian and Burkinabè boys are also exploited through forced labour in the agricultural and service industries, especially cocoa production (US Department of State, 2023). Victims of human trafficking in Ivory Coast come from rural parts of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Morocco, and China. They are mostly located in Abidjan, northern and central Ivory Coast, and western mining regions near gold mines in Tengrela (Ibid). Nigeria human trafficking victims, transit through Ivory Coast en route to exploitation in sex trafficking in Asia, the United Arab Emirates, and North Africa. According to the US Department of State (2022), religious leaders also recruit women and girls for work in the Middle East and Europe. During the reporting year, the government reported initiating 10, continuing 13 investigations, and initiated prosecution of 25 alleged traffickers (23 for sex trafficking and pimping, one for labour trafficking, and one for an unknown form of trafficking) and obtained convictions for 19 traffickers and upheld 4 trafficking conviction on appeal (Ibid).

According to the World Bank (2022), Ivory Coast experienced a steady increase in remittance flow from 2008 ($199,721,402) to its all-time high in 2011 ($397,123,339). It dropped to $307,645,128 in 2017 and experienced a slight increase in 2020 ($323,756,447). In 2020, remittance flow constituted 0.5% of GDP. In 2018, the main remittance inflow into Ivory Coast came from France (MicroSave Consulting, 2020). Remittance flow into Ivory Coast is used for various purposes, the main one being household consumption needs. With the decline in income and economic opportunities in times of crisis and uncertainties, remittances play an important role in supplementing household income (Konan, 2019). As one of the top migrant destinations in Sub-Saharan Africa, remittance flows from Ivory Coast as much as it flows in. For example, according to Cooper, Esser & Dunn (2018), annual remittance flow from the Ivory Coast to other African countries amounted to more than $1.6 billion.

According to the UNHCR (2021c), there are currently approximately 91,000 Ivorian refugees and asylum seekers around the world. Most of them live in West Africa and Europe, with 33,000 in Liberia and a further 22,000 in Europe. Some of the contributing factors to forced migration from Ivory Coast include the civil wars from 2002 - 2007 and 2011 - 2012, and most recently, the violence linked to the presidential and parliamentary elections. Since 2011, some 290,000 Ivorian refugees living in some parts of West Africa have voluntarily returned to their homeland (Ibid). A high-level ministerial regional meeting culminated in the government of Ivory Coast and other countries hosting large numbers of Ivorian refugees signing a joint declaration on September 07, 2021, leading to the cessation of Ivorian refugee status on June 30, 2022. According to UNHCR (UNHCR, 2021d), some fundamental and durable changes in Ivory Coast have precipitated the desire for a cessation clause to be implemented concerning Ivorian refugees from June 2022. Some of these changes include

• the creation of the Dialogue, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission in 2011 and the National Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations during the political crisis;
• the adoption of an Amnesty Law in December 2018;
• political dialogue with the opposition launched in December 2020;
• the release of some detained opposition members;
• the creation of a Ministry of National Reconciliation in March 2021; and
• the return of high-profile opposition leaders since February 2021, including the former president, Laurent Gbagbo (UNHCR, 2021c).

A UNHCR survey conducted in the regions shows that 60% of remaining Ivorian refugees intend to repatriate, 30% are still undecided, and 10% have chosen to stay in their host countries. UNHCR assists the returnees with transport and financial support to facilitate their reintegration (Ibid). 25% of the more than 6,700 voluntary returnees assisted by IOM between 2017 and 2019 were women and some of the challenges confronting these returnees are psychosocial trauma associated with the journey, stigmatization, being judged and shamed and even rejection by family members (especially in a situation where the women return with a child) (IOM, 2019b). These challenges compromise their integration process.  

The World Food Programme facilitates the reintegration process of returnees, welcoming them with food kits and providing them with cash transfers to meet their immediate food and nutritional needs for three months (WFP, 2020).