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Thousands Flee Ivory Coast Post-Election Violence

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3,200
   Ivorians have fled post-election violence in their country to Liberia,
   Ghana and Togo and more reportedly are on their way.

   Violent clashes erupted in Ivory Coast after Saturday's presidential
   elections, reportedly killing at least 12 people and injuring many
   more. That has prompted thousands of people to flee to neighboring
   countries.

   The U.N. refugee agency saysmost of the new arrivals are women and
   children from Ivory Coast's west and southwest regions. Among them, it
   says are former Ivorian refugees who had recently returned to their
   home country. Now, they have been forced to flee again.

   UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov describes the situation as very
   worrying. He toldVOA expectations are high that more people will leave
   Ivory Coast based on the acceleration of new arrivals Monday.

   "In a 24-hour period, we registered 1,000 refugees coming into Liberia.
   That is for a total of 2,600, some of those people having come into the
   country in the days preceding the election. So, what we are doing is we
   are working closely with the government of Liberia but also Ghana and
   Togo on contingency plans should the situation worsen and should more
   people start to come across the border," he said.

   President Alassane Ouattara won a hotly contested third term, receiving
   94 percent of the vote according to the electoral commission. The
   opposition disputes the victory, calling Ouattara's bid for a third
   term illegal. The president and his supporters argue a constitutional
   change in 2016 nullified the president's first term, allowing him to
   run again.

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