Refugees flee to Liberia

In the lower north western region of Africa is a place called the Ivory Coast. They are currently recovering from a recent civil war, which was active from 2002- 2007. Due to their most recent presidential election of Alassane Ouattara, Laurent Gbagbo, the former/current president, refuses to acknowledge he lost the November 2010 election. These votes should have ended the eight-year crisis, but Gbagbo resorted to violence to keep power. According to the United Nations, whom have the most control over the situation, the human toll exceeds 365 dead
with dozens of rapes, and an unknown amount of abductions and disappearances. This is a major threat to peace, security, and stability in western Africa. With more than a 350,000-vote margin over Gbagbo, there is no doubt that Ouattara won the election. In an attempt to reverse the result, the Constitutional Council; the country’s highest court, which is controlled by the Gbagbo camp, claimed to have discovered widespread violence and fraud in seven departments that voted overwhelmingly for Ouattara. It thus canceled more than 660,000 votes, enough to raise his total from 45.5 per cent to 51.4 per cent. Gbagbo’s refusal has casued this crisis of violence. Refugees, worried for their lives flee to Liberia at a estimate of 500 per day. A state some two dozen villages that are already strained from the lack of food and water. Making health a major concern. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) response to the situation is to provide medical attention to the exceeding amount of refugees a day. With such a potential threat to disease from poputaion and diversity, they also take preventive measures by exploiting hygiene education. It’s a shame to see several of innocent lives lost in the Ivory Coast due to another political issue. The situation in Western Africa has not been largely publicised, and I think that as these tensions rise, the UN and IRC must make the best of efforts to contribute to the rehabilitation of the cost.