The latest from Ivory Coast
| 13:19 UK time, Thursday, 31 March 2011
This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 31 March 2011. Listen to the programme.
The situation in Ivory Coast continues to deteriorate.
Overnight, supporters of Alassane Ouattara siezed control of , the administrative capital, and San Pedro, the cocoa port.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council approved a imposing sanctions on the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo.
South Africa's foreign ministry has just announced that Laurent Gbagbo's army chief has taken refuge in the South African Embassy in Abidjan.
We know that many of you have been wanting to talk about Ivory Coast for a while. Over the last couple of weeks I've been talking to people in Ivory Coast about how this ongoing conflict is affecting their lives. Today we'll be speaking to as many of them as possible to find out what is going on. And one of our regular contributors in Abidjan has written this post for us.
Antonin first wrote for the blog in January. Here he tells us how things have changed and what new challenges he is facing. These are all his own words.
As the impasse in the post electoral dispute goes on in Ivory Coast, the bright daily life of Ivorians has ceased to exist. The atmosphere on the ground is indescribable. I have therefore the privilege to cast light on the convulsion in my country through a series of questions.
What does the city look like and sound at the moment?
The confused role of the UN and the bloodthirsty rebel exactions in Abidjan and in the West of the country have forced Ivorians into a pitiful forced migration of the disinherited to Liberia and Ghana. It's true that the situation in Libya has obscured the tragedy in Ivory Coast, but the reality on the ground indicates that if we don't care we helplessly see the future Somalia- isation of Ivory Coast.
Is it safe to leave your house?
It's almost impossible to move in Abidjan because one never knows when he will undergo rebel's torture in town. On the road traffic is not regular as it was in the past few days. People only move when there is an emergency. Today it's wiseless to be on the street without any given purpose.
Are you able to buy things you need?
The main issue that dominates discussion here in Ivory Coast is survival. In fact after the ridiculous sanctions issued by the international community it's very difficult to provide ourselves and our families the smallest need. Here in Ivory Coast the humanitarian assistance consist of the closing of banks, embargo on the port and the evil embargo on medicines. How can we buy things if we can not cash our own money from the banks? I'm currently living in Ghana and sometime i return to Abidjan to see what the situation is like there. Unfortunately banks are still closed and i don't for how long i'll be able to take care of me and my family.
Can you easily travel from Abidjan to Ghana?The way from Abidjan to Ghana is quite safe and it's obvious enough that Ghana is an attractive land for those who are running away from Ivory Coast.The latest development of the crisis in Ivory Coast has doubled the number of refugees at the Ghanaian border. We could have avoided all these things if the international community had had another approach of the situation in Ivory Coast.
Touray is also a resident of Abidjan who has spoken to us regularly over the last few months. He wasn't able to send an email because gun fights in the city have prevented him from leaving the house. I talked to him on the phone and this is what he told me. These are his own words.
There was shooting yesterday afternoon in the city so no one could leave their house. All the shops are closed and there is no food around. All the markets are out of food and what is there is very expensive. Ouattara's supporters are close to Abidjan, I am very happy about that.
[noise in background] Can you hear that? That is gunfire. The shooting is now happening everywhere. They [Alassane Ouattara supporters] want to take control today or tomorrow.
The only thing for me to do now is try to get out. The problem is where to go. You can't move around easily because there are armed militia everywhere and if you can't pay them they will shoot you. Most of the time they shoot people without even thinking.
The streets are empty, people in town are scared. Lots of people have tried to move out of Abidjan but lots of people on the roads were ambushed by militia. Now in town, everyone is scared. We lock ourselves indoors and we pray that they don't come for us.
