The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Côte d'Ivoire: UN reports 3,000 flee abroad amid electoral violence
Several thousand people have fled from Côte d'Ivoire into neighbouring countries after a presidential election that sparked violent clashes, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
“Ivorians are fleeing to neighbouring countries as they fear post-electoral violence. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, is concerned as electoral tension and unrest in Côte d’Ivoire has caused several thousand people to flee to neighbouring countries as refugees. Violent clashes erupted after the presidential election which was held on 31 October leaving at least a dozen dead and many more injured, according to the latest reports,” UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov told a regular UN briefing in Geneva.
News reports said on Monday that the Ivorian electoral commission had provisionally declared 78-year-old incumbent President Alassane Ouattara the winner with 94.27 per cent of the vote. The election had been laden with tension over his decision to run for a third term, after he had gone on record as saying that he would step down after two, and the two main opposition parties had called for a boycott.
“As of 2 November, more than 3,200 Ivorian refugees had arrived in Liberia, Ghana and Togo. Most of the arrivals are women and children from Côte d’Ivoire’s west and southwest regions. The newly arrived include former Ivorian refugees who had recently repatriated and were forced to flee once again,” Mr. Cheshirkov said.
He added that UNHCR was grateful to the three neighbouring countries for keeping their borders open despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and the agency was working closely with them on contingency plans in case the situation worsened further.
“What we have seen is the majority of those coming across the border are women and children. In fact more than half those that have come in to Liberia and Ghana have been children. We are still trying to assess the profile of the people and why they are moving as they are right now. That is why we are boosting our capacity and deploying staff. For the moment I can’t tell you more about the profile but certainly we hope to have that in coming days,” Mr. Cheshirkov said.
On the eve of the election, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had urged all political leaders to “refrain from inciting violence, spreading misinformation and using hate speech” and to resolve any disputes through dialogue.
Mr. Cheshirkov said that many Ivorians had been sensitised to the dangers by widespread violence connected to a Pisputed presidential election in 2011.
“In terms of the violence, what we have seen is already there have been reports of a dozen or more dead and many more hurt and we know that people are looking back to 2010-11, that period when there was violence which at that time led to 3,000 dead, more than 300,000 refugees fleeing in the region and around 1,000,000 displaced”, he said.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers to rear in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees): “Ivorians are fleeing to neighbouring countries as they fear post-electoral violence. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned as electoral tension and unrest in Côte d’Ivoire has caused several thousand people to flee to neighbouring countries as refugees. Violent clashes erupted after the Presidential election which was held on 31 October, leaving at least a dozen dead and many more injured, according to the latest reports.”
- Medium shot, UN staff member typing on laptop and using listening device, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for UNHCR: “As of 2 November, more than 3,200 Ivorian refugees had arrived in Liberia, Ghana and Togo. Most of the arrivals are women and children from Côte d’Ivoire’s west and southwest regions. The newly arrived include former Ivorian refugees who had recently repatriated and were forced to flee once again.”
- Close-up, hands typing on laptop, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for UNHCR: “What we have seen is the majority of those coming across the border are women and children. In fact, more than half those that have come in to Liberia and Ghana have been children. We are still trying to assess the profile of the people and why they are moving as they are right now. That is why we are boosting our capacity and deploying staff. For the moment, I cannot tell you more about the profile but certainly we hope to have that in coming days.”
- Medium shot, UN staff member using listening device, sitting on podium, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for UNHCR: “In terms of the violence, what we have seen is already there have been reports of a dozen or more dead and many more hurt and we know that people are looking back to 2010-11, that period when there was violence which at that time led to 3,000 dead, more than 300,000 refugees fleeing in the region and around one million displaced.”
- Medium shot, UN staff member typing on laptop and using listening device in foreground and journalist listening to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in foreground and a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures to rear, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, UN Staff member sitting and listening, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).