Ivory Coast has imposed an emergency security lockdown along its northern border after a sudden influx of refugees fleeing escalating violence in southern Mali. Authorities say the move is necessary to manage the humanitarian surge while preventing armed groups from slipping across the frontier.
The National Security Council (NSC) confirmed that the arrivals followed fresh attacks on civilians by armed terrorist groups in several southern Malian communities, part of a broader deterioration driven by jihadist factions operating across the Sahel.
In its statement, the NSC said it has ordered the immediate registration of asylum seekers to ensure proper documentation, adding: “The Executive Secretary has been instructed to take all necessary steps to register these asylum seekers.”
At the same time, the country’s top military leadership has been directed to reinforce security deployments in the north. The NSC said the Chief of Defence Staff has been tasked with strengthening surveillance and tightening control across the border region to prevent possible infiltration by extremist networks.
The development comes at a sensitive moment for Côte d’Ivoire, which is still navigating post-election dynamics after its 25 October presidential poll. The country remains one of West Africa’s strongest-performing economies, earning international praise for its stability and investor-friendly outlook. Côte d’Ivoire attracted $3.80 billion in foreign direct investment in 2024, the third-highest total in Africa and a 53% jump from the previous year. That momentum has continued, boosted by major projects such as the newly commissioned 3-million-tonne Dangote Cement plant in Attingué.
But the intensifying conflict in Mali threatens to cloud this progress. The surge in refugees follows renewed offensives by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition driving much of the insurgency. The group has widened its operations beyond Mali in recent years, pushing into Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast. In October, JNIM carried out its first confirmed attack in Nigeria, killing a soldier and stealing weapons and cash.
The group has also been pressuring Mali’s junta by blockading key transport corridors that connect the country to ports in Senegal and Ivory Coast, triggering fuel shortages and severe economic strain in Bamako. The shortages have already forced the government to suspend classes in schools and universities nationwide.
Italy, the US and France have issued fresh travel warnings over Mali’s security deterioration, citing the risk of attacks and the growing humanitarian emergency.
This week’s assault on Loulouni, a town just 50km from the Ivorian border, drove hundreds of residents to flee into Côte d’Ivoire, adding new pressure to a country that already hosts about 90,000 refugees from Burkina Faso.
With violence in Mali showing no signs of abating, Ivory Coast now faces a dual challenge: protecting its borders while absorbing a rising number of displaced people seeking safety.
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