# taz.de -- Migration policy in Ivory Coast: Getting out at all costs
       
       > Ivory Coast has long been a popular target country for immigrants from
       > West Africa. These days, however, many want to leave the country,
       > especially young people.
       
 (IMG) Bild: Cocoa beans are an important export good in Ivory Coast
       
       Ivory Coast, currently inhabited by about 23.7 million people, has a long
       tradition as an immigration country and has been particularly attractive to
       migrant labourers from Burkina Faso. According to a national census from
       1998, the 3.4 million Burkinabé were by far the largest group of
       non-Ivorians. Many have been living in the country for decades, frequently
       working in cocoa cultivation. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer
       of cocoa, with an annual production of around 1.7 million tons. The
       Burkinabé are regarded as a cheap labour force and, compared to native
       workers, are often poorly trained. The great majority of them works in the
       informal sector, which gives them scant legal rights.
       
       According to various statistics for the years 1998 to 2006, as many as 7.8
       million immigrants in total may have lived in Ivory Coast in that period.
       However, the World Bank estimated just 2.4 million immigrants in 2010. The
       United Nations Population Division (UNPD) assumes that this number is
       decreasing and will continue to fall. Numerous immigrants have been leaving
       the country because of its many political crises since the year 2000.
       
       Immigration has been present in Ivory Coast since the beginning. Yet under
       President Henri Konan Bédié and his concept of Ivorité starting in the
       1990s, an emergent xenophobia has been on the rise. The current president,
       Alassane Ouattara, was excluded from the 1995 elections since his parents
       supposedly had immigrated from Burkina Faso. The issue of nationality is
       still a major problem in Ivory Coast today, confirms political science
       researcher Arsène Brice Bado, who works for the Centre for Research and
       Action for Peace in the business metropole of Abidjan.
       
       In any case, in 2010 great numbers of Ivorians became refugees themselves.
       Following a run-off election in late November – in which ex-president
       Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede his office to Alassane Ouattara, leading
       the country into severe conflict which left more than 3,000 dead – 250,000
       people departed for the bordering country of Liberia. According to the UN
       refugee agency UNHCR, as of mid-2016, a solid 20,000 Ivorians were still
       living in the neighbouring country. Another 11,000 Ivorians remain in Ghana
       today.
       
       ## New migration
       
       Beyond that, however, hardly any further data is known on migration to
       neighbouring countries, or to Europe, as stated in “A Survey on Migration
       Politics in West Africa“ by the West African economic community ECOWAS. Up
       to 1.2 million Ivorians could still be living abroad long-term. Silvère Yao
       Konan of the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny called the former colonial
       power of France the most important target country in Europe in 2009, with
       26 percent of the migrants. The majority – at least 65 percent – also
       leaves the country permanently. This means that a majority of migrants
       remains abroad for at least five years. EU claims that 80,000 Ivorians
       currently hold residence permits there. 7,000 new residence permits are
       issued per year.
       
       UNHCR estimates that three percent of migrants and refugees who reach
       Europe by crossing the Mediterranean are currently Ivorians. In 2015, 7,712
       Ivorians applied for asylum; the approval rate globally was 13 percent.
       Italy ranked in first place, followed by France and the neighbour country
       of Ghana. Germany ranked in fourth place with 548 applications. The rate of
       repatriations was at 14 percent. A Frontex report claims that in 2014,
       about 25,000 visas were issued to the Schengen area. However, the quota of
       rejections was 28 percent.
       
       Since 2015, migration has become a subject of hefty debate within Ivory
       Coast itself. This is related to the fact that 60 percent of the population
       is under 25 years old. Despite having had a good education, in part, the
       majority of them can't find regular employment upon entering the job
       market. The 2015 economic growth rate of just 8.5 percent didn't help
       matters. Since the economic situation in neighbour countries tends to be
       even worse, they don't present themselves as likely targets for migration
       to find work. Multiple events organised by entities such as the General
       Direction of Ivorians Abroad (DGIE, Direction Générale des Ivoiriens De
       L'Extérieur), which belongs to the Ministry for African Integration and
       Ivorians Abroad, are intended to make young Ivorians aware of the dangers
       of overland migration.
       
       ## Biometric compilation
       
       Five months after the Valletta Summit of November 2015, a meeting was held
       in Abidjan between Foreign Minister Abdallah Albert Toikeusse Mabri and his
       Dutch official counterpart, Bert Koenders. The Netherlands held the
       presidency of the EU council at that time. The EU found that Ivory Coast
       was still lacking an approved national strategy on migration policy. This
       national strategy would supposedly form the basis for Ivory Coast's further
       co-operation with the EU and also for the implementation of the Valletta
       goals.
       
       Koenders has also negotiated an agreement for the EU with Ivory Coast on
       combatting illegal migration. The intent is to develop an effective
       strategy for a systematic return of migrants, who also “should be
       discouraged from putting their lives in danger“. Outcomes were to be
       announced by the end of the year.
       
       Within the 11th European Development Fund, for the years 2014 to 2020 a
       total of €273 million has been allocated to be distributed over three
       areas: Fortifying the state and securing peace, including funding for
       agriculture and the energy sector. With €139 million, this takes the
       largest share of the funding. The EU Trust Fund for Africa, in any case,
       does not see Ivory Coast as a priority nation.
       
       In 2009, Ivory Coast introduced a biometric passport. Those responsible for
       issuing them included the nation's Corporation for the Issuance of
       Identification Papers, and the Zetes Corporation, founded in 1984. Both
       were also responsible for the biometric visa introduced in 2013, which can
       be applied for and paid for online. Upon entry into the country, it is
       issued and pasted into a passport.
       
       Overland, border control – at least with neighbouring Liberia and Guinea –
       remains difficult to impossible. During and after the election crisis in
       late November 2010, for example, supporters of ex-president Gbagbo
       frequently could flee to the Liberian side. Dense forests, untracked by any
       paved roads, make the region hard to control. Especially during the rainy
       season, the slopes become nearly impassable in some places. According to a
       customs official on the Ivorian side in October 2011, residents there
       rarely used the official transition points, preferring to cross the green
       border.
       
       13 Dec 2016
       
       ## AUTOREN
       
 (DIR) Katrin Gänsler
       
       ## TAGS
       
 (DIR) migControl
       
       ## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA