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 Houphouetists 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 two seasons – wet and dry seasons occur at different times. North of the equator, the wet season runs from April to October and the dry season from December to February, and South of the Equator, the wet season runs from November to March, and the dry season from April 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 Côte d’Ivoire 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 Côte d’Ivoire (IOM, 2019). Law No 2016-1111 is Côte d’Ivoire’s law against human trafficking, and Law No 2018-571 combatting the smuggling of migrants is operational (Ibid). The asylum law in Cote d’Ivoire is still in draft form and is yet to be adopted. At the regional level, Côte d’Ivoire 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, and capital and labour. Migrants have access to all public health and education services regardless of their status. However, migrants are not eligible for medical schemes financed by the state, and regarding tertiary education, tuition 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 Côte d’Ivoire, regardless of their nationality, are entitled to the benefits of the National Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale, CNPS) (Ibid). Côte d’Ivoire 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. Côte d’Ivoire grants nationality to migrants through marriage, naturalization, declaration, and adoption (Ibid).

In 2013, Côte d’Ivoire 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, 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, in 1961, Côte d'Ivoire ratified the 1961 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva Convention), and in 1991, Côte d'Ivoire ratified the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Internal migration was encouraged in the 1960s in Côte d’Ivoire – that is, when the country enjoyed economic prosperity. Like elsewhere in most parts of Africa, Côte d'Ivoire experienced rural-urban migration. This movement contributed massively to the urbanization of Ivorian cities, causing more than 50% of its population to live in urban cities (Dick & Schraven, 2021). There are no recent data on internal migration in Côte d’Ivoire. The 1998 Ivorian census data indicates that there were 4,405,328 internal migrants in Côte d'Ivoire - constituting 28.7% of the total population, and the majority 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, as a result of urban poverty, there is, an increase in the number of internal migrants from urban areas to rural areas recently. Between 2002 and 2015, the urban poverty rate in Côte d’Ivoire 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 Cote d’Ivoire female migrants stock has been stable from 2010 to 2019, the actual numbers have slightly increased as the number of male migrants increases. Female migration into Cote d’Ivoire – especially from other parts of Africa is informed by several factors, inter alia, the search for seasonal jobs, the continuous political instability that is characterised by civil wars within the sub-region, etc. Within the sub-region, Cote d’Ivoire 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 Cote d’Ivoire as a stock of the total migrant population are high for migrant girls (54.1%) and young women (69.3%) (Ibid).  

The development of the plantation sector during the colonial times made the economy heavily rely on foreign labour force that was abundant in neighbouring countries, especially in Burkina Faso. Recently, through its sub-regional framework (ECOWAS), by implementing the protocol of the free movement of people within the sub-region, Cote d'Ivoire 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 that emphasises that nationals of ECOWAS member states do not need a residence permit to stay in Cote d’Ivoire, 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 Cote d’Ivoire (United Nations, 2015). Although not all immigrants are part of the labour force, in Cote d’Ivoire, 85.5% of the immigrant population constitute part of the labour force participation in the country (Ibid).

Côte d’Ivoire is ranked tier 2 in the Trafficking in Person Report 2021 as Côte d’Ivoire does not meet the minimum standard for the cancellation of human trafficking activities. The Ministry of Solidarity is the lead agency for combatting trafficking in Persons and the Ministry of Employment is responsible for combating child labour with the support of inter-Ministerial committee trafficking, exploitation, and child labour. However, the government is making a significant effort to meet the minimum standard. Côte d’Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country of victims of human trafficking, specifically forced labour, sex trafficking, and partly drug trafficking. In line with the National Strategy and National Plan in Combatting Trafficking in Persons, the National Committee against the trafficking of persons is in charge of the responsibility of implementing the aforementioned laws (IOM, 2019b). At the international level, Côte d’Ivoire 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 Côte d’Ivoire, resources, inspections, remediation, and penalties are inadequate. The government runs shelters for child victims of exploitation in Soubre and refers child trafficking victims to NGOs for long-term care (Ibid).

However, there is limited support for adults, and the lack thereof makes them vulnerable to re-victimization. The majority of victims identified are children. Traffickers exploit Ivorian women and girls in forced labour in domestic service, restaurants, and sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit Ivorian and Burkinabe boys in forced labour in the agricultural and service industries, especially cocoa production (US Department of State, 2021). Victims of human trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire come from rural parts of Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Nigreria, Mali, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Morocco, and China. They are mostly located in Abidjan, northern and central Côte d’Ivoire, and western mining regions - near gold mines in Tengrela (Ibid). Nigeria human trafficking victims transit Côte d’Ivoire en route to exploitation in sex trafficking in Asia, the United Arab Emirates, and North Africa. Religious leaders also recruit women and girls for work in the Middle East and Europe.

According to the World Bank (2022), Cote d’Ivoire 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 Cote d’Ivoire came from France (MicroSave Consulting, 2020). Remittance flow into Cote d’Ivoire is used for various purposes, the main ones being - consumption needs. Remittances play an insurance role against the decline in income and economic opportunities in times of crisis and uncertainties (Konan, 2019). As one of the top migrant destinations in Sub-Saharan Africa, remittance flow from Cote d’Ivoire is far more than its inflow. For example, according to Cooper, Esser & Dunn (2018), annual remittance flow from Cote d’Ivoire 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. The majority of them live in West Africa – with 33,000 in Liberia and a further 22,000 in Europe. Some of the contributing factors to forced migration from Cote d’Ivoire include the two civil Wars in 2002 and 2007 and 2011 and 2012, and most recently, the violence linked to the presidential and parliamentary elections. Since 2011, some 290,000 Ivorian refugees living in West Africa have voluntarily returned to Cote d’Ivoire (Ibid). A high-level ministerial regional meeting culminated in the government of Cote d’Ivoire 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), there are some fundamental and durable changes in Cote d’Ivoire that have precipitated the desire for a cessation clause to be effected 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 opposition launched in December 2020, the release of some detained opposition members, creation of a ministry of National Reconciliation in March 2021, 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, while 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 traumas associated with the journey, stigmatization, women are judged shamed and even rejected by their families (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).

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Côte d’Ivoire works in close partnership with the government in projects aimed at strengthening institutional capacities in the areas of immigration and border management, and migrant protection and assistance. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cote d’Ivoire focuses on humanitarian activities and strengthening protection for refugees, returnees, and stateless people. Other migration-related United Nations agencies in Uganda include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF helps returnees to keep their children in school, and UNDP, in partnership with the government, pilot projects aimed at attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which amongst others include good governance and the fight against poverty. World Food Programme (WFP) provides school meals to targeted children throughout the school year. Medicine Sans Frontier (MSF) left Cote d’Ivoire in 2019 and returned in 2020 to support the national Covid-19 response team in screening and referral of Covid-19 patients.