COTE D’IVOIRE: The Cost of War – Children That Do Not (Officially) Exist

By Aly Ouattara Reprint | | Print |

Aly Ouattara

KORHOGO, Northern Côte d'Ivoire, May 26 2006 (IPS) - The political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, sparked by a failed coup in 2002, is further disrupting the registration of children born in areas under rebel control.

This West African country has been divided in two since the attempted takeover, with the rebel-held north separated from the government-controlled south by a buffer zone which United Nations and French troops patrol. The coup was staged by mutineering soldiers who took up arms to protest against the alleged marginalisaion of the north, by southerners.

While government offices in northern Côte d’Ivoire closed after the Sep. 19, 2002 coup attempt, inquiries by IPS indicate that authorities are still keeping records in various towns and rural settlements under rebel control. Provisional birth certificates are issued, as well as copies of certificates for pupils who are sitting exams in government-supervised areas.

However, these documents are not recognised by authorities in the south. Lesson Sanogo, a student at the University of Abidjan-Cocody, and Yédé Silué – a teacher from Guiembé, in the north – told IPS that they were forced to obtain other birth certificates in the commercial centre of Abidjan when those issued in rebel areas were rejected.

Birth registration had already been on an uncertain footing for several decades before the events of 2002.

According to Abou Coulibaly, parliamentarian for the Korhogo constituency in the north, the failure to register births in Côte d’Ivoire – particularly in northern areas – stemmed from a lack of training and of raising awareness among village populations concerning the importance of registration.

Yéo Alama, a farmer in the village of Fonnovogo, says the indifference shown by municipal officials before the outbreak of hostilities discouraged villagers from getting birth certificates, or national identity cards.

“Traveling long distances by bike or car, and then being confronted by deferments or repetitive meetings without ever obtaining the document, leads to the villager becoming discouraged,” he explained to IPS.

“In addition, the villager must leave his work to register the birth of a newborn or obtain a national identity card, which does not seem to him to be important.”

This issue has taken on particular significance of late, with a week-long pilot project to provide people with identity papers in preparation for a presidential election scheduled to be held by Oct. 31. The programme got underway May 18 in various regions.

About 3.5 million people in Côte d’Ivoire are without papers, of which close to two million are in the north of the country, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Reports indicate that members of the Young Patriots, a group that supports President Laurent Gbagbo, attempted to disrupt one of the first hearings to establish whether identity documents could be issued – held in Abidjan. The members were quoted as saying they feared migrants would try to obtain papers illegally during the registration process.

Côte d’Ivoire has long been a destination for migrants from poorer countries in the region such as Burkina Faso and Mali. These people, who now account for a large part of Côte d’Ivoire’s population, have done jobs that Ivorians considered too menial. An economic decline sparked by falling commodity prices towards the end of the last century sparked intolerance towards foreigners, however.

A 2000 constitution drawn up under General Robert Gueï, who had come to power in a 1999 coup, stated that presidential contenders had to be born of Ivorian parents. The amendment was widely viewed as a bid to prevent opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, said to have foreign parents, from contesting the 2000 presidential election ultimately won by Gbagbo. (In response to international pressure, the president last year agreed to use powers given to him under the constitution to allow Ouattara to stand for president.)

The pilot operation to issue papers took place at the same time as efforts to assemble rebel and government troops, ahead of disarmament.

However, a report issued Thursday by the New York-based Human Rights Watch alleges that human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated by rebels (known as the New Forces), government troops and pro-government militias.

“Continuing violations…and the impunity which underpins them, raise serious concerns about the potential for peaceful elections later this year,” notes the document, titled ‘”Because they have the guns…I’m left with nothing.”: The Price of Continuing Impunity in Côte d’Ivoire’.

“Unless measures to combat impunity are taken now, there could be a repeat of the experience during the 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections, when political, ethnic, and religious violence resulted in hundreds dead and injured.”