Immigrants fear Ivorian violence

Immigrants have been fleeing the country

More than 200,000 people are now estimated to have fled their homes across the Ivory Coast since the conflict erupted in September, says the UN refugee agency.

Immigrants and refugees in particular are expressing growing concern about their safety in the Ivory Coast.

According to the UNHCR, in the main city, Abidjan, some 40,000 have been affected by the bulldozing of shanty towns.

NGOs say police and gendarmes there have destroyed 13 shanty towns and up to 30 more have been listed for demolition.

A mutiny exactly two months ago on 19 September, led to the country being divided in two, with French peacekeepers manning a line of control running across the country.

In the government controlled south of the country, immigrants, refugees and Ivorians suspected of having rebel sympathies are being targeted.

Sometimes shanty towns have been destroyed without notice, with bulldozers parked outside communities as a warning to the residents that they should move elsewhere, the UNHCR says.

Many families have been left living on top of their flattened homes.

Peace plans

In Togo, Ivory Coast rebels are submitting new proposals to mediators trying to end the two-month dispute between them.

The rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) will make their demands public once Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who is mediating between the two sides, has read the document.

French troops have been keeping the sides apart

Peace talks have been taking place in Togo for more than two weeks, but little progress has been made.

The proposals are a reaction to the peace plan released last week by the West African body, Ecowas, which makes provision for territorial integrity and respect for the constitution.

The rebels have been asking for a review of the constitution adopted two years ago, as well as President Laurent Gbagbo's departure and fresh elections.

Last week, the rebels rejected a draft plan put forward by the mediators.

They asked the MPCI team to come up with a new document addressing each clause in the peace plan and suggesting amendments.

The economy is struggling, as supply routes from rebel held cocoa-producing areas to southern port cities are blocked.

Bus loads of foreigners have been leaving the Ivory Coast, fleeing for their safety.

The government of Ivory Coast denies that it is targeting foreigners. It says its fight is with the rebels.