ABIDJAN, 13 May 2010 (IRIN) - An additional police unit and more troops should be added to the UN Office in Côte d'Ivoire's peacekeeping presence of 8,500 troops, to keep the peace in the west, say the International Crisis Group (ICG) and aid officials.

There is broad support for the call among aid workers IRIN spoke to, and the general public.

The mandate of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) comes up for renewal on 31 May and a UN Department of Peacekeeping Technical Assessment Mission recently visited the country to evaluate the situation. It is due to make recommendations to the UN Security Council at the end of May.

The political focus of the concept of who is considered to be an Ivoirian, and a deteriorating economic situation have combined with "armed groups and militias, the resurgence of xenophobic language, and a challenging socio-economic situation, to make for an explosive environment, threatening the stability of this country," said the ICG in its report.

"If the UN and other international partners in Côte d'Ivoire do not rapidly put in place the political and security mechanisms capable of preventing violence, the Ivorian peace process is at the risk of derailing, with serious consequences for Côte d'Ivoire and its neighbours."

The Interior Ministry must increase its security force presence in the west, says the ICG, and Guillaume Soro, prime minister and general secretary of the Forces Nouvelles, must accelerate disarmament in the Forces-Nouvelles-controlled west and north.

Violent incidents up

Violence broke out in western areas in February 2010 in the run-up to scheduled elections which were never held, killing seven and injuring 22 others. The fighting followed President Laurent Gbagbo's dissolution of the Independent Electoral Commission and the government, bringing election preparations to a standstill.

Reported violent incidents increased in the west between January and April 2010 compared to earlier months, according to UNOCI's human rights coordinator, Fatou Dieng Thiam.

Incidents included violence related to the electoral process, restrictions on freedom of movement, extortion, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and arbitrary detention and arrests, as well as 58 attacks on civilians, according to UNOCI.

People "increasingly desperate"

Deteriorating living conditions are also making people "increasingly desperate", said the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the capital, Abidjan, Julie Bélanger.

While humanitarian indicators such as severe acute malnutrition have slightly improved, and more than 89,000 of the 120,000 people displaced from western areas have returned, many development indicators are stalling or deteriorating, with rising poverty and high unemployment, she said.

"The perpetual transition is taking its toll on the living conditions of everyone... It makes it harder for us to build on and consolidate humanitarian improvements we have achieved," she told IRIN.

"The longer the transition takes, the higher the risk of a relapse in a humanitarian situation, as vulnerabilities rise."

The government must take urgent steps to improve living conditions, including ensuring a steady supply of electricity and drinking water, both of which are deteriorating in the capital, Abidjan-based human rights expert Ben Abdul, told IRIN.

Paralysis

An aid worker who asked not to be named told IRIN the workings of many ministries have slowed down as everyone is focusing on what happens next politically. "We [aid agencies] can't anchor ourselves in government structures as we need to now that humanitarians are gone, because of the overall paralysis." The newly appointed government knows it might not be in place for long, so is not getting entrenched, he added.

The only solid achievement on the road to elections thus far has been an electoral list that identified 6.3 million voters, but the government put one million of these names, whose nationality has not been confirmed, on a second list, leading to a dispute between the ruling party and opposition.

President Gbagbo and opposition head and ex-president Henri Konan Bédié held discussions on 10 May to discuss the stalled elections process.

Source http://www.irinnews.org