2006年VOA标准英语-Question of Nationality Mires Ivory Coast

By Joe Bavier
Bouake, Ivory Coast
23 February 2006

Ivory Coast has a new prime minister, a new reconciliation¹ government, and a new road map for peace intended to end the country's three-year-old civil war and pave the way for elections before the end of October. But, the thorny² issue of nationality, at the heart of the conflict, has yet to be resolved - a particularly important issue as voters are still unsure if they will be able to vote in upcoming elections.

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Near the bush taxi station in Bouake's main market, Mamadou Kone sells shoes, just a few hundred meters away from the hospital where he was born 28 years ago. But to the other vendors³, he is known as the Guinean. When asked, Mamadou feels the need to clarify.

"My father is from Guinea," he says. "My father's father is from Guinea. My mother is from the south of Ivory Coast. I was born here in Bouake," he says. "I'm Ivorian."
 

Rebel soldier Ibrahim Kone poses with his national identity card in Bouake (2005 file photo)  
  
It is the kind complicated explanation of lineage that has become commonplace in Ivory Coast.

The country has long been ethnically⁵ mixed. During the colonial period, French administrators⁶ brought in laborers⁷ from the north to work on projects like railroads and canals.

Ivory Coast's independence President Felix Houphouet-Boigny's open immigration policy helped the new nation become the economic engine of West Africa.

However, with the death of the founding president and an economic downturn, Ivorian politics became increasingly polarized along ethnic⁴ lines.

In late 2002, northerners within the army led a failed coup⁸ against President Laurent Gbagbo, a southerner. They claimed they were fighting for equal rights, saying the north's predominantly Muslim population was being marginalized.

More than three years of international mediation⁹ have failed to reunite the divided country. And the nationality status of northerners remains¹⁰ one of the key unresolved issues.

"The reason for the crisis is simple," says Mamadou. "The leaders of this country have created this xenophobia. They've divided the population. They create differences and pit everyone against each other."

Questions surrounding Ivorian nationality, something that did not even exist until independence in 1960, include who can vote, hold an identity card, own land, and run for president. Matters are complicated by the fact that many people born in Ivory Coast, especially in rural areas, do not possess birth certificates.

Mamadou has no national identity card and says, with his name which is also commonly found in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, it is impossible for him to get one.

Recently appointed Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, on his first trip to the rebel-held north, alluded¹¹ to the problem. It is one, he says, that must be resolved before elections can go forward.

"What nationality will the child of an Ivorian father and Senegalese mother have," he asked. "And if that child marries a young girl he meets at university, who comes from Togo or Benin, what will be the nationality of their child?"

The most important thing, Mr. Banny says, is to allow the freedom of choice, without having people obsess¹² over what nationality their spouse¹³ or children will have.

Last year, under pressure from international mediators, President Gbagbo allowed the candidacy of popular northern opposition¹⁴ leader Alassane Ouattara. He was excluded from the two previous presidential elections over doubts concerning his own citizenship¹⁵.

However, a resolution of the broader nationality question has remained elusive¹⁶. It is still unclear who will actually qualify to vote in elections scheduled to take place before the end of October.

For Mamadou, it is as much political as it is artificial. He alludes¹⁷ to the fact that almost none of the country's ethnic groups have their historical origins in the territory that makes up current-day Ivory Coast.

"The president is Bete. That ethnic group came from Liberia," he says. "The Baoules in the southeast came from Ghana. The Dioulas in the north came from Mali. No one is really pure Ivorian. We all just ended up here."

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

3 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

6 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

7 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

8 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

9 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

12 obsess   

vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰

参考例句：

• I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。
• A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

13 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

17 alludes   

提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中，密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
• Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。