Political Impasse in Cote d'Ivoire

Lebanese Voices from Cote d'Ivoire

The current conflict in Ivory Coast that has been claiming hundreds or lives and caused over one million people to become displaced has understandably caused a humanitarian and security situation with the country’s Lebanese population estimated to be between 80-100,000.

The conflict as a result of last November’s contested elections between rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Allassane Ouattara has centred on the capital Abidjan which has recently witnessed fierce shelling and gunfire between loyalists to incumbent President Gbagbo and those loyal to UN and French backed Ouattara.

I spoke to numerous people stuck in the homes and under siege by armed gangs in the middle of a state of lawlessness and a security vacuum that has now prevailed in the capital Abidjan.

Fatima Zein, whose house is situated minutes away from the Presidential palace in the Zone Quatre district, told me of armed gangs roaming the streets and widespread looting. “We’ve had to pay private security men from the street thousands of dollars every week to protect our house and buy us food as we set foot outside our front door. There is nobody from the government or the French helping us.”

She also described how neighbours have been sharing food and water in the desperation of not being able to step outside their homes.

Her husband Kofi Kwase also told us that “there is a curfew but none of the gangs are adhering to this. Armed people are still roaming the streets and it’s not safe for any normal unarmed citizen to go out into the street.”

The Arab community in Ivory Coast, concentrated mainly in Abidjan has been present here for decades and centuries even, escaping famines and conflicts in the home countries, most notably Lebanon and setting up home there, working in professions like coffee and cocoa bean production, the diamond and gem trade, airlines, engineering and telecommunications, as well as occupying some of the highest ministerial jobs in parliament in Cote d’Ivoire as well as in neighbouring West African nations like Sierra Leone and Gambia.

Another businessman we spoke to called Jamal Fardon told us “the curfew has been preventing us from leaving our houses. We cannot even go to hospital if we are hurt, we just have to suffer in the safety of homes, and it’s been like this for days now. I was born here and I am second generation, but I have never seen anything like this in Ivory Coast.”

Lebanese media has been widely covering the large numbers of expatriates that have been arriving home from Abidjan. I managed to catch up with one returnee named Nour El-Dine. He said “we just left our houses empty handed and arrived this morning. The situation now is so dangerous and not safe for anyone to even be safe in our houses, but I of course will go back after the problems are over. My whole life and friends and family are all over there.”

In terms of political support the Lebanese community residing in the country are split between the two feuding camps, mostly due to economic and business ties between them. Yesterday the Lebanese Ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Dr.Ali Ajami on speaking to the media that, "on the ground there is a number of Lebanese business men who have close economic ties, and I stress economic ties, with people within the camp of President Laurent Gbagbo and at the same time there are other Lebanese business men who also have economic ties with people from the camp of president Hassan Ouattara." that “"This situation emanates primarily from the lack of security on the ground due to the absence of actual authority."

Hesham Shawish