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2011-03-27 Africa Subsaharan
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1 million flee Ivory Coast in fear of civil war
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[Arab News] With possessions balanced on their heads, about 1,000 people frantically crowded around buses rented by Mali to evacuate its citizens Friday from Ivory Coast, joining an estimated 1 million people who already have decamped amid fears of civil war.
More than 2 million Malians live in neighboring Ivory Coast, and human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
groups say the foreigners are facing growing threats of violence as the Ivorian political crisis intensifies. Evacuation efforts have been hampered by a lack of buses so far.
"700 today. 700 tomorrow. Everyone who wants to leave will be able to as long as I'm here," said Hamet Diawara, president of the council of Malians in Ivory Coast.
Incumbent leader  Laurent Gbagbo
... President of Ivory Coast since 2000. Gbagbo lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and Laurent has refused to leave despite the international community's hemming, hawing, and broad hints...
has refused to cede office despite his rival Alassane Ouattara being recognized by the international community as the rightful winner of November's presidential election. Pro-Gbagbo forces have attacked foreigners from the region whose countries have supported Ouattara.
"We're afraid. Everyone's leaving," said Abdias Goita, a father of two who sat patiently in the shade next to the Malian buses. "My brother had his door broken down by pro-Gbagbo militias. He gave them all the money he had -- about 200,000 francs ($430) -- but they slit his throat anyway."
The United Nations
... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
said Friday that up to 1 million people have decamped the ensuing violence.
"The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war," Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told news hounds in Geneva.
The closure of banks and businesses is causing economic chaos in the already impoverished West African country, she said. Unemployment is rising, as are food prices.
On the main road between Abidjan and the border with Ghana, an AP cameraman saw hundreds of vehicles backed up more than 9 miles (15 kilometers) waiting to cross over.
Fleming said previous estimates had put the number of displaced in the whole country at 500,000, indicating a sharp rise in recent days. 
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Posted by Fred 2011-03-27 00:00||
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Posted by JosephMendiola 2011-03-27 23:14||
2011-03-27 23:14||
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