Conflict over land—while certainly not the only, or even the most important factor—would
play a prominent role in Côte d’Ivoire’s plunge toward a decade of violence and grave
human rights abuses. This was particularly true in the country’s west.
Displacement of Migrant Populations by the 2002-2003 Armed Conflict
On September 19, 2002, rebels from the Patriotic Movement of Côte d’Ivoire (Mouvement
Patriotique de Côte d’Ivoire, MPCI) attacked strategic targets in Abidjan along with the
northern towns of Bouaké and Korhogo. Although it did not succeed in taking Abidjan, the
MPCI, soon joined by two western-based rebel factions, quickly controlled the northern half
of Côte d’Ivoire. The three rebel groups formed a political-military alliance called the Forces
Nouvelles, which sought to end political exclusion and discrimination against northern
Ivorians and to remove the president, Laurent Gbagbo, who they perceived as illegitimate
due to flaws in the 2000 elections.30 Fighting was particularly intense in the country’s west,
where both sides recruited Liberian mercenaries and targeted mostly civilians. Human Rights
Watch documented grave crimes committed by both sides, including summary executions,
massacres, and targeted sexual violence.31
Facing targeted abuses by pro-Gbagbo forces for their perceived support for the rebellion,
immigrants and Ivorians from northern and central ethnic groups fled en masse from the
southern half of western Côte d’Ivoire.32 Many had lived and worked on plantations there
for decades, even generations.33 The displacement of migrant populations was particularly
acute along the Guiglo-Toulepleu axis, where there was a heavy concentration of proGbagbo militia groups. Many immigrants and non-native Ivorians fled to the northern half
of the country, controlled by the Forces Nouvelles, while around 7,000 went to a displaced
persons camp in Guiglo.34 Four years after the conflict, more than 5,000 displaced persons,
30 Human Rights Watch, Trapped Between Two Wars: Violence Against Civilians in Western Côte d’Ivoire, vol. 15, no. 14(A),
August 2003, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/08/05/trapped-between-two-wars, pp. 9-12. For a discussion of Gbagbo-led
policies that discriminated against northern Ivorians and immigrants, see International Crisis Group, “Côte d’Ivoire: ‘The War
is Not Yet Over,’” pp. 7-8.
31 Human Rights Watch, Trapped Between Two Wars; and Human Rights Watch, Youth, Poverty and Blood: The Lethal Legacy
of West Africa’s Regional Warriors, vol. 17, no. 5(A), April 2005, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/04/13/youth-poverty-andblood. See also International Crisis Group, “Côte d’Ivoire: ‘The War is Not Yet Over,’” pp. 21-25.
32 Human Rights Watch interviews with Burkinabé immigrants, western Côte d’Ivoire, February and June 2013.
33 Human Rights Watch interviews with Burkinabé immigrants, western Côte d’Ivoire, February and June 2013. See also
“Increased Returns of Internally Displaced Persons Require More Funding,” International Organization for Migration (IOM)
press release, May 9, 2007, http://allafrica.com/stories/200705080563.html (accessed August 29, 2013).
34 Global IDP Project and NRC, “Internal displacement in Côte d’Ivoire,” November 2005, p. 11.
“THAT LAND IS MY FAMILY’S WEALTH”
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