As former leader Gbagbo faces trial at the ICC, how are Ivorians recovering from the conflict which erupted a year ago?
DAKAR (AlertNet) – Ivory Coast’s former President Laurent Gbagbo has been transferred to the International Criminal Court where he is expected to answer charges on crimes against humanity committed during post-election conflict.
About 3,000 people were killed and about a million displaced in a four-month civil war after Gbagbo refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara after losing the election last year.
Here is an update on the humanitarian situation one year on from the presidential poll.
What is the political and security situation in the country?
Security has improved since fighting ended in April. Parliamentary elections are planned for this month, but Gbagbo’s party has refused to participate. There are still underlying tensions rooted in political and ethnic differences and disputes over land, particularly in the west and southwest of the country where there have been sporadic inter-communal clashes in recent months.
Armed groups continue to perpetrate grave abuses. A report released by UNICEF and Save the Children in November said more than 1,120 women and children have been victims of human rights violations in the West African nation since the start of the post-election crisis. Abuses include the maiming, forcible recruitment and abduction of children as well as sexual assaults.
Civilians have accused the former rebel forces or Republican Forces of Ivory Coast (FRCI), who backed Ouattara in the conflict, of racketeering and harassment. The government has created combined military and police units to combat racketeering along major highways. However, experts say the government has to tread carefully while it determines how to handle hundreds of people who were not soldiers but joined in the war effort to dislodge Gbagbo.
The government says civilian officials are progressively taking over authority in the northern, western and central regions of the country that had been under the control of former rebels.
Is the humanitarian crisis over now?
Aid operations are moving from the emergency response phase to helping communities recover and supporting development, according to humanitarian groups in Ivory Coast. Increasingly, the focus is on ensuring that people willing to return to their communities can do so safely, have somewhere to stay and receive assistance to rebuild their livelihoods. Many people lost their homes, food reserves and seeds for planting during the conflict.
Are people still living in camps in Ivory Coast?
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates 600,000 people were sheltering in displacement camps at the peak of the post-election conflict in April. But the number had fallen to just over 16,000 people by the end of last month, according to the United Nations. More than 160,000 others are still living with host families.
Most people in the main city Abidjan returned to their homes after fighting ended. Some people were evicted from the informal camps that sprang up during the conflict.
The first organised return from camps supervised by aid agencies and the government happened last month when the IOM, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the U.N. Refugee agency (UNHCR) supported the voluntary return of 1300 people who had sought shelter at a Catholic mission compound at Duekoue in western Ivory Coast.
However, some local media reports say these people were forced to leave as part of measures by the government to close camps ahead of the parliamentary elections.
People still in the camps include widows, unaccompanied children, families whose homes were destroyed in the conflict and others who fear that those now occupying their land will refuse to leave due to long-standing inter-ethnic and land-tenure problems.
Have refugees started returning from neighbouring countries?
The Ivorian government has been encouraging its citizens to return, citing improved security and the necessity for reconciliation. Ouattara himself has urged those who fled to Ghana (15,000 refugees) and Togo (5000) to return home during visits to these countries.
The UNHCR estimated in September that more than 200,000 Ivorians fled to a dozen neighbouring West African nations amid the violence. Of these, about 156,000 are still Liberia.
The UNHCR started helping Ivorians in Liberia return home on a voluntary basis in October. But it said some refugees had also returned home under their own steam amid fears Liberia’s October-November elections might lead to violence.
However, most of those who fled abroad are still wary of the security situation in Ivory Coast and fear they may be targeted in inter-communal disputes over land if they return.
Sources: Oxfam, IOM, OCHA, UNHCR, Save the Children
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