AES: Côte d’Ivoire expels nearly one hundred citizens of the Alliance of Sahel States for no apparent reason

On Thursday 15 February 2024, 89 AES citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger were arrested in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, and sent back to the Yendéré border post for no apparent reason, according to information gathered by the Burkinabe news Agency (AIB) on Friday 16 February 2024.

These individuals included 64 Burkinabè, 24 Nigeriens and 1 Malian, all apprehended by Ivorian police forces during the night of 13 to 14 February 2024 in Bouaké, as reported by several corroborating sources.

These same sources indicate that these citizens were transferred to the Yendéré border post on the Burkina Faso side in the middle of the day on 15 February 2024, without any reason being officially given.

To date, no official reaction has been issued by the Burkinabe authorities, or the AES authorities in general, regarding this unexpected expulsion, and the circumstances surrounding it remain unclear.

Papa Ibrahima