VZCZCXRO7848
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0997/01 2681711
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251711Z SEP 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3564
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000997 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W-PDAVIS, INR/AA-BGRAVES, AND PRM/AFR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL SOCI IV
SUBJECT: STATELESSNESS IN COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
 
ABIDJAN 00000997  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Refugee Office Program Assistant 
participated in a September 13 trip organized by the Office 
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 
and the Ministry of Justice to the towns of Meagui and Soube 
in western Cote d'Ivoire.  The purpose of the trip was to 
examine statelessness issues.  The trip participants learned 
that, as expected, the vast majority of potentially stateless 
persons are of Burkinabe origin, followed by persons whose 
origin is in other Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS) countries.  The lesson learned from this first 
assessment is that the problem of statelessness seems to 
result more from low awareness and interest in identification 
and naturalization procedures than from actual denial of 
citizenship by the government of Cote d'Ivoire.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Refugee Office Program Assistant participated in a 
September 13 trip organized by UNHCR and the Ministry of 
Justice to the towns of Meagui and Soube in western Cote 
d'Ivoire.  Trip participants met with Secretary General of 
the Meagui Sub-Prefecture Vincent Sakpa Bra, who explained 
that the city hosts longtime migrants, mostly from Burkina 
Faso, but also from Mali, Guinea, Niger, and Senegal.  Bra 
said that Burkinabes and Malians work in many coffee and 
cocoa plantations in the region.  According to the 1998 
national census, Meagui has a population of 211,900, but the 
breakdown by nationality has not been made public.  According 
to Bra, the Sub-Prefecture used to register migrants' arrival 
in the area, but stopped doing so when the 2002 political 
crisis broke out in Cote d'Ivoire.  He indicated that a 
substantial number of foreigners, especially the ones who 
live in remote areas, do not register their children's births 
at his office.  Bra said city officials do not expect any 
major problems during the hearings, scheduled to start 
September 25, to provide replacement birth certificates to 
persons who never received one or lost theirs. 
 
¶3. (U) Bra introduced the trip participants to a 
representative of the Burkinabe community, a 34-year old man 
who was born and raised in Cote d'Ivoire.  This Burkinabe 
explained that he is not interested in acquiring Ivorian 
citizenship, but might consider applying for naturalization 
if there were a compelling reason to do so.  It seems that 
the issue of land ownership is the key factor in 
decision-making for most rural migrants.  Secretary General 
Bra said  his office had assisted migrants with applications 
for citizenship and that 5 persons obtained citizenship.  He 
did  not clarify if any applicant whom his office assisted 
was denied citizenship. 
 
¶4. (U) Trip participants met with Jean de Dieu Zoundi 
Mitibkieta, the Consul of Burkina Faso who has responsibility 
for the southwestern region of Cote d'Ivoire.  Zoundi 
Mitibkieta himself migrated to Cote d'Ivoire in 1947 and 
became an Ivorian citizen.  The consul claimed that there are 
over 3 million Burkinabe migrants in the southwestern region 
of Cote d'Ivoire.  He based this figure on field assessments 
conducted between 1996 and 1998.  (Comment. This figure seems 
extremely high given Cote d'Ivoire's 2004 estimated total 
population of 18,700,000.  End Comment.)  The Consul stated 
that although there are numerous cases of Burkinabe migrants 
who lack birth certificates and/or identity papers, only a 
very small number are unable to prove any legal relationship 
with either Burkina Faso or Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment.  Persons born to one Ivorian parent 
anywhere in the world are Ivorian citizens.  According to the 
Nationality Code, persons born in Cote d'Ivoire of foreign 
parents before December 1961 were entitled to apply for 
Ivorian citizenship in an expedited manner.  A 2005 
Presidential decision extended the expedited process to 
persons   born in Cote d'Ivoire of foreign parents between 
December 20, 1961 and January 25, 1973.  The expedited 
citizenship process requires documentation of birth in Cote 
d'Ivoire.  The potential number of stateless persons will 
become clearer after the "audiences foraines" process, which 
began September 25, is completed.  The "audiences foraines" 
are tribunals that will issue birth certificates to persons 
who never had them or who lost them.  The issuance of birth 
certificates by the audiences foraines will permit many to 
take advantage of the expedited naturalization process.  The 
potentially stateless will be those who have no documentation 
proving foreign citizenship, but who were unable to produce 
witnesses for the audiences foraines attesting to their birth 
in Cote d'Ivoire.  UNHCR's work with the National Institute 
of Statistics to include recent variables in the 2008 
National Census to allow for identification and counting of 
the number of potential stateless people is important and 
should be supported if possible.  Considering that the last 
census took place in 1998, this will provide a unique, 
longed-for, opportunity to obtain reliable population figures 
 
ABIDJAN 00000997  002 OF 002 
 
 
and serve as a basis for decision-making about future PRM 
programming.  UNHCR is planning a longer trip with the 
Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Section to visit 
additional villages and settlements hosting Burkinabe migrant 
communities. End Comment. 
 
 
 
 
AKUETTEH