Press release on the granting of refugee status to asylum seekers from Burkina Faso and Mali by the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission) notes with satisfaction the interministerial decree of 2 July 2025 by which the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire granted refugee status to a large group of asylum seekers from Burkina Faso and Mali, including those registered since May 2021 after fleeing violence in northern Côte d'Ivoire. According to information received by the Commission, this measure concerns more than 69,000 Burkinabe and approximately 1,500 Malians.
The Commission welcomes this decision, which gives effect to the obligations arising from the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (dignity, non-discrimination, right to seek and obtain asylum) and the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. It recalls that Article I(2) of this Convention, through its broad definition of refugees as ‘persons forced to leave their country due to events seriously disturbing public order’, allows, where appropriate, for group recognition (prima facie) in order to ensure rapid protection in accordance with regional law.
The Commission emphasises that recognition of status consolidates the guarantee of non-refoulement and facilitates effective access to the rights attached to this status, in particular documentation, access to essential services, family unity and freedom of movement in accordance with the law.
While congratulating the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire on this major step forward in protection, the Commission encourages the full implementation of the above-mentioned decree (prompt issuance of documents, effective remedies); the mobilisation of national resources and international support for host communities, as well as continued cooperation between the Ivorian authorities, national human rights institutions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and humanitarian partners.
Finally, the Commission invites the other States parties to the 1969 OAU Convention to consider, when factual circumstances so require, recognition mechanisms adapted to mass displacement, in strict compliance with human rights and procedural guarantees.
Banjul, 24 November 2025
Honourable Commissioner Selma SASSI-SAFER
Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa
