Ivorian officials said the influx of Malian refugees was caused by ‘attacks against civilians’ by armed groups.
Published on 14 November 2025
Ivory Coast has strengthened its border security following the arrival of “several unusual flows of refugees” from neighboring Mali, officials in the West African country have said.
Ivory Coast’s National Security Council (NSC) said in a statement on Thursday that “the incursion appears to be the result of attacks against civilians by armed terrorist groups in several areas of southern Mali”.
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“The National Security Council has instructed its Executive Secretary to take all necessary steps to register these asylum seekers,” the statement said.
“Furthermore, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces has been directed to take appropriate steps to strengthen security on the northern borders of our country,” it added.
The al-Qaeda-linked Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) has waged a nearly decade-long insurgency in Mali.
The armed group, the most active in West Africa according to conflict monitor ACLED, was created in 2017 as a result of the merger of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Machina Liberation Front and al-Mourabitoun.
JNIM’s operations began in Mali, but have since expanded to the surrounding countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Togo.
Recently, in late October, the terrorist group carried out its first attack in Nigeria, killing a soldier and seizing ammunition and cash.
The group has killed thousands of people since 2017, although the overall death toll is unclear.
The group also demands regime change in Mali, and JNIM has warned foreigners against doing business with the ruling military government – as it overthrew the country’s democratically elected government without “authorization” in a 2020 coup.
In an attempt to pressure the military government to negotiate, in September, JNIM closed major highways used by tankers and targeted fuel trucks attempting to reach the landlocked Sahel country from Ivory Coast and Senegal.
The move has effectively created an economic and fuel blockade on the capital, Bamako, pushing the city to the brink of collapse and driving frustration among residents, many of whom have fled to neighboring Ivory Coast.
On Wednesday, JNIM militants attacked the town of Lulouni, about 50 km (30 mi) from the Ivory Coast border, sending hundreds more people fleeing.
Ivory Coast already hosts about 90,000 refugees from neighboring Burkina Faso, a country that is struggling to contain its armed insurgency.