SUMMARY
The conflict between the Guéré and the Malinké has its roots in the economic and political crisis which hit the Ivory Coast in the last decades of the 20th century and which resulted in a wave of ethnic tensions.
During the period as a French colony, from 1893 until 1960, the country was organized according to an agricultural production of cocoa-based in the south of the country. As an abundant workforce was constantly requested to support the economic expansion, immigration was highly encouraged. This policy remained in place even after independence. The work opportunities present in the south also attracted people inhabiting the northern parts of the country. As a result, migrations within the country were also common. With the settlement of northern and foreign ethnic groups in the south, it was not long until tensions arose with the local Akan and Bete groups. In the interest of keeping production on as high a level as possible, the French colonizers severely penalized any form of ethnic violence, thus limiting escalation. The further economic development in the post-independence era, increasing the standard of living and improving social services, was enough to maintain a certain level of social cohesion.
By the end of the 1970s the once strong economy began to fall apart as a global economic recession hit the world. Acting in the belief that the crisis would soon be over, the Ivorian government continued borrowing large amounts of money to support the development of the country. As the crisis endured, the government was left with enormous debts and without funds. The Ivory Coast quickly found itself in a financial crisis and was close to bankruptcy.
During the same time the country was going through a political crisis. After the death of former President Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, the country was ruled by Konan-Bedié who promoted the Ivorisation process, a nationalistic political process to remove political opposition and to marginalize immigrants by bringing up the question of autochthony. The process also affected people originating from the northern parts of the country since they were not considered true Ivoirians by the southern population. Northerners were often considered filthy, inhabiting bad neighborhoods and as being responsible for the country's high criminality rate. The main difference between the north and the south was however mainly a question of religion; the north was Muslim and the south Christian.
The rise of poverty, unemployment, and the Ivorisation process opened up for new tensions between the ethnic groups. Foreigners and Northerners became deemed as a threat to the advancement and survival of the more autochthonous groups. As a result, several ethnic conflicts arose during the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century.
At the beginning of January 2011, the death of a Malinké woman combined with the atmosphere of ethnic tension which reigned after the refusal of Laurent Gbagbo to cede power to the newly elected President Alassane Ouattara led to an ethnic conflict between the Malinké and the Guéré. The hostilities started after a bus was attacked by armed men near the city of Duékoué. During the attack, a Malinké woman was shot and later died of her wounds. After rumors reached the Malinké community that the attack had been performed by ethnic Guéré, young Malinké retaliated. Fighting took place at several locations within the city of Duékoué and led to the destruction of hundreds of homes. Although the city was under the control of security forces, they were unable to stop the ongoing violence which lasted for 5 days.
The non-state conflict between the Guéré and the Malinké is first included in UCDP data in 2011. In January of that year, the killing of a Malinké woman turned ethnic tension into open conflict. In the days following the event, Malinké youths launched a reprisal attack on the Guéré community in the city of Duékoué which lasted for several days and resulted in at least 33 battle-related deaths.
