In Ivory Coast, Guinean women in Abidjan can apply for consular cards free of charge. Establishing these identity papers normally costs several thousand CFA francs. This decision by the authorities in Conakry and the Guinean embassy in Abidjan follows reports of cases of mistreatment and attacks suffered by street vendors in October. The complainants accuse municipal police officers of having assaulted them. An enrollment operation took place this Sunday morning, November 24, in Yopougon, in a public school in this suburb of the Ivorian economic capital.
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With our correspondent in Abidjan, Benoit Almeras
The school building is transformed into a makeshift civil registry office. An agent from the Guinean consulate takes the fingerprints and photos of the applicants: “ I am in the process of validating their file. This now means that these women are registered at the embassy [de Guinée] “.
There are at least 300 of them, sitting in the shade of the courtyards. Undocumented Guineans, mostly from the Nzérékoré region, on the border with Ivory Coast. This is the case of Antoinette, this trader sees the consular card as a protection against harassment: “ Often, when we want to travel, we are stopped on the road. And if we don’t have any coins [d’identité]we have to pay. Having our part will help us a lot! “.
For others, a card is security. Gérard Lecadou is organizing the operation with the Haba Afrik Foundation. For him, we must also raise awareness among traders about respecting Ivorian laws: “ The most important thing is that they do not conflict with the law. If they do not respect the law, some take advantage of their vulnerability “.
According to Habba Afrik, the Guinean consulate in Abidjan plans to issue 1,000 free consular cards.
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