(5 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – 4 August 2024
++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
1. Various of Amadou Kodjo, president of collective of Malian nationals in Ivory Coast leaving his home to go to meeting
2. Collective members with banner reading (French): “Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) the voice of millions in the diaspora must be taken into account”
3. SOUNDBITE (Bambara) Amadou Kodjo, president of the collective of Malian nationals in Ivory Coast:
“If we (Mali) leave ECOWAS, we who live from pushing carts (to transport goods), we who live from security work, how are we going to get a residence permit (from Côte d’Ivoire) which costs between 400,000 and 500,000 CFA francs (USD$665-832)? What are we going to live on and what are we going to send to our families back home? It’s to denounce this that I’m here.”
4. People hanging Mali flag and Ivory Coast flag onto wall
5. Close of t-shirt reading (French): "Yes to Union, no to division" and flags of Mali, Ivory Coast and ECOWAS
6. Members distributing t-shirts with slogans
7. Wide of collective spokesperson Sekou Maiga and leaders standing at podium
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Sekou Maiga, spokesperson of the collective:
"The Malians of the diaspora are very important in the Malian economy, if today it (Mali) withdraws, what will become of the diaspora, that’s the question we ask ourselves as young Malians living abroad.”
9. Various of banner and t-shirt reading (French): “Mali-ECOWAS for Mali, we are ECOWAS, and we stay ECOWAS”
10. Awa Bamba talking with other collective members
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Awa Bamba, member of the collective:
“The problem with ECOWAS is that we traders are tired of it and it doesn’t suit us. If they (the members of the Malian junta) can reconsider their position towards ECOWAS, they only have to look at it.”
12. Various of street
++NIGHT SHOT++
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Fatime Kodjo, member of the collective:
“The 11 political party leaders arrested at their homes must be released. Mali is a country of freedom and people must be free to express themselves and ask questions. We don’t have to go and catch people in their homes and lock them up. We don’t agree with these practices today, and we won’t tomorrow.”
++DAY SHOTS++
14. Various of members of collective during meeting
STORYLINE:
Members of the collective of Malian nationals in Ivory Coast gathered in Abidjan on Sunday for a meeting to denounce Mali’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), due to take effect next January.
Some three million Malians live and work in Ivory Coast, and are deeply worried about their situation should the decision of Mali’s ruling military junta become a reality in a few months’ time.
Collective president Amadou Kodjo does not want Mali to leave ECOWAS, because he said the impact on daily life would be significant.
“If we (Mali) leave ECOWAS, we who live from pushing carts (to transport goods), we who live from security work – how are we going to get a residence permit (from Côte d’Ivoire) which costs between 400,000 and 500,000 CFA francs (USD$665-832)?," said Kodjo. "What are we going to live on and what are we going to send to our families back home?"
Mali, ruled by a military junta that seized power in a coup d’état in 2020, has engaged in a tug-of-war with the countries of the ECOWAS regional bloc, which are urging the military to hold a presidential election to restore constitutional order in the country.
The junta hinders freedom of expression, forcing many journalists to leave the country.
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