Cote d'Ivoire: Over 400 Liberians Left Homeless After Demolition of Communities Outside Abidjan

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a FrontPageAfrica report from Abidjan dated July 28, 2026, says more than 400 Liberian nationals have been displaced after Ivorian authorities demolished homes in the Vridi Canal area outside Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital. Leaders of the Liberian community in Côte d’Ivoire said the clearance happened about three weeks earlier and affected settlements where many Liberian migrant families had lived for years.

The report says the demolition was part of an Ivorian government urban redevelopment and settlement-clearing effort targeting unauthorized or unsafe structures around rapidly growing parts of Abidjan. Community representatives, including Robert Varney Zoker, vice president of the Liberian Community in Côte d’Ivoire, said displaced people lost homes, belongings, business assets, fishing equipment, savings and identity documents. Women, children, elderly people and people with special needs are among those now staying in overcrowded temporary shelters, including school buildings.

Liberian community leaders have appealed to the governments of Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as humanitarian organizations, for emergency accommodation, food, medical care, sanitation support and psychosocial assistance. They are also asking for help transporting Liberians who choose to return voluntarily to Liberia. A petition has reportedly been sent to Liberia’s diplomatic mission in Abidjan seeking urgent engagement with Ivorian authorities.

The affected Vridi Canal zone is economically important because it connects the Port of Abidjan to the Atlantic and has long attracted fishing and migrant communities. FrontPageAfrica also noted that Ghanaian authorities reportedly assisted hundreds of their nationals affected by the same demolition exercise, a response Liberian community leaders cite as a possible model.