Exodus Increases as Violence Flares in Abidjan (NEWS BRIEF)

Refugees, who fled the post-election instability in Ivory Coast, wait to be registered at a camp in Liberia. CREDIT: UNHCR(HN, March 20, 2011) - As the situation in Ivory Coast deteriorates due to post-election violence, the flow of displaced people from the commercial capital of Abidjan continues to grow.

UN agencies now estimate that as many as 30,000 people have been displaced in Abidjan alone. At the same time an increasing number of migrants and Ivorians are fleeing the country, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In recent days, fighting between the internationally recognized President, Alassane Ouattara and his rival for the presidency, Laurent Gbagbo, has escalated and more people are being killed and injured. Officials say it has been the worst week since the post-elkection crisis began in December.

After Nigeria, Mauritania has one of the biggest migrant populations in the country. An estimated 40,000 Mauritanians are living and working in Ivory Coast, 10,000 of whom are in Abidjan, according to the Mauritian Embassy in Abidjan.

The vast majority of them either own or work in small business and are men without accompanying families. Mauritanian migrants say they feel particularly threatened and targeted and as a result, want to return home. Some have had their shops looted while many have witnessed much violence.

The Mauritanian Embassy had already evacuated 2,200 of its nationals by bus but still has several hundreds of its nationals remained camped out in the embassy compound and on surrounding streets. Another 1,000 were schedule to be moved this weekend.

- HUMNEWS staff