In Côte d'Ivoire, over 950,000 stateless individuals live without official recognition, making it one of the countries with the largest stateless populations worldwide (Atlas der Staatenlosigkeit, 2020, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung). This issue traces back to the colonial era, when arbitrary borders divided communities and cultures. Today, statelessness stems from various factors, including the descendants of enslaved people denied citizenship rights, unregistered births, and the influx of migrants from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, as well as refugees from the Sahel region.

Beyond colonial legacies and migration, the inaccessibility of Côte d'Ivoire's registration system in rural areas exacerbates the problem, with many parents failing to register their children. In recent years, the country has intensified efforts to tackle statelessness, becoming one of the few nations actively documenting this issue. However, progress is slow, as many stateless individuals fear registration could lead to deportation or punishment.