Salesians Aiding Refugees in Ivory Coast

Salesians Aiding Refugees

in Ivory Coast

Catholic News Service, AP, and the New York Times in the last week have run major stories about the massacre of 800 to 1,000 civilians in a city called Duekoue in Ivory Coast, where there has been major fighting in the last month as a result of a contested presidential election.

The Salesians run the only Catholic mission in Duekoue, and the situation there has been precarious for months. An American volunteer serving with them left in December (and is now serving at another mission in Mali).

It seems that Duekoue is near what we might call the "fault line" between the different tribal groups who supported the contesting presidential candidates. At first mere thousands fled to the Salesian mission for protection.

And last week, between March 27 and 29, the situation boiled over, with fighting and killing. Three Salesians found themselves with 20,000 refugees on their grounds, without enuf shelter, food, or water. The UN is trying to bring in supplies.

A Scottish newspaper reported on April 3 that 800 people had been killed inside the Salesian compound. This isn't true. The Salesian news agency ANS has been reporting on the story since December. The photos posted here were published on March 18.

Today ANS posted this:

(ANS – Abidjan) – Because of the current situation of conflict in the Ivory Coast, the superior of the French-speaking West Africa Vice Province, Fr. Faustino Peña Garcia, has issued a press statement in which he provides an update on the situation from the Salesian point of view.

The Salesians have three communities in the country: at Korhogo, in the north; at Duékoué, in the western region; and at Abidjan, the political and economic capital.

At Korhogo there are five Salesians in the community looking after a secondary school and a parish – which so far are still operating with students and serving the faithful – as well as the usual Salesian activities with the children and young people as part of the mission structure. The situation in the city is calm, and the same can be said of the community and the activities of the Salesians.

The community of three Salesians at Duékoué looks after a parish, a vocational training center and a hostel. The city has been the scene of a great deal of conflict and in recent days has been captured by the republican troops of President-elect Ouattara. The parish has been respected even though some potential troublemakers came into the mission; they left without harming any of the refugees there, or the community. In the city there have been many casualties on both sides of the conflict, but the local Guéré tribe has been particularly affected. It is not easy to count the number of those dead, but it is estimated that there are about 800.

The present number of refugees in the mission is about 20,000. The Salesians, assisted by some health workers, the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, are trying to help this large number of people. It is not always easy to provide food and health care, given that the needs far exceed what is available.

The community in Abidjan is in a crowded working-class area of the capital city, Koumassi Remblais. There they have a youth center, two reception centers for children with problems, and a parish. There are five Salesians who look after the work, and they are still all there, carrying on their activities as normal.

The two reception centers for children are completely full. There are no refugees in the Abidjan center. Fr. Peña reports, “We are suffering with the people the consequences of the crisis, especially the great uncertainty.” Just now because of the situation there is a scarcity of basic food items.