Arnaud Yao experienced slavery in Libya before crossing the Mediterranean to reach Italy. The 28-year-old Ivorian uses his experience to help other migrants on the Franco-Italian border.
Maïmouna, a 33-year-old Ivorian, always dreamed of starting her own business in the Ivory Coast. Lacking funds, she decided to migrate to Europe to work. She hoped the money she'd earn could enable her to return home to realize her dream and help her family. But the journey through Libya, marred by kidnapping and imprisonment, killed all her hopes.
A 17-year old migrant girl from Ivory Coast met her Spanish rescuer in a BBC video last week. Aicha was one of three people to survive a 22-day crossing from Mauritania when she was found drifting at sea by the Spanish Air Force.
Abandoned in Istanbul by a man who claimed to be a certified FIFA agent, Stèphane, an Ivorian footballer, arrived in France, where he became a sports educator in the Paris region. Undocumented for a decade but with a permanent work contract, Stéphane now wants to regularize his status. But he can’t get an appointment at the police prefecture office that handles immigration appointments. This is his story:
According to reports, Abou was just 15 years old when he died on Monday. A migrant from Ivory Coast, he was rescued by the Open Arms ship in September and spent 12 days quarantining on the ferry Allegra off Palermo. Now questions are being asked about his death. An investigation is underway in Sicily.
Earlier this year, InfoMigrants managed to communicate with an Ivorian minor locked up in a house in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. For several days, the 16-year-old called Mariam* recounted her experiences in captivity including repeated rapes, her fear of falling pregnant and her dreams of reaching Europe. But then there was silence. Here's an animated account of Mariam's horrific story.
This picture shows Daouda, a 34-year-old Ivorian man who reached Italy on a rubber dinghy in 2009. He suffered exploitation and abuse during his trip and was employed as an illegal agricultural worker in citrus groves upon arrival. Today he works as a cultural mediator in migrant hosting centers in Rome.