800 Malians return from Cote d'Ivoire

Nearly 800 Malians, who had been living in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire returned home on Tuesday aboard 10 government-hired buses, citing harassment in Cote d’Ivoire since a failed coup last year raised tensions between Ivorians and non-Ivorians. Issiaka Kone, the Malian officer in charge of the operation, told IRIN that 787 Malians, 2 Guineans and one Senegalese crossed into Mali after a three-day road trip through Ghana and Burkina Faso. Some 63 of them disembarked at the border town of Sikasso. "We were haunted by the constant fear of being assaulted. We could not work. That is why we decided to return," Moussa Diarra, an elderly returnee told IRIN upon arrival in the Malian capital, Bamako. Colonel Mamadou Traore, director general of the Malian Civil protection Services told IRIN that during the trip, a 13-year old girl accidentally broke her leg in Burkina Faso. Two elderly women fell ill and there were numerous cases of sickness. A similar convoy in June returned hundreds of Malians and other West African nationals from Cote d’Ivoire. They were among thousands of West African nationals who have left Cote d'Ivoire since soldiers attempted, but failed to topple the government in September 2002. The soldiers later seized control of central and northern Cote d'Ivoire, effectively dividing the country into two. Ivorian security forces have since then targeted non-Ivorians living in the country, whom they accuse of helping the rebel soldiers. As a result, many non-Ivorians who used to work in the cocoa and coffee plantations have had to leave the country. Mali, which shares close ties with Cote d’Ivoire, has so far repatriated over 3,500 of its citizens, but thousands more have returned without government assistance. Skirmishes between the rebel and government soldiers stopped six months, but a political impasse persists. Last month the rebel leaders, who now occupy seats in a national reconciliation government, said they were pulling out of the unity government. The rebellion has hindered trade with neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso and inconvenienced travelers who are forced to use alternative routes. The rebels belonging to the Patriotic Movement of Cote d’Ivoire only allow some commercial trucks to pass through their territory.