The microbes

summary

Table of contents The phenomenon of "microbes" ......................................... ........................................... 3 1.1. Precarisation of the urban fabric .............................................. ................................................. 3 1.2. Violence in the public space ........................................... ............................................... 4 1.2. 1 Young people do the coup for political parties or unions ................................... ...... 4 1.2.2. The dynamics of "gbonhi": a servile mass as a means to exist ................................... ....... 5 2. Activities of "microbes" ................................... .................................................. ........ 6 2.1. The main districts concerned in Abidjan ............................................ .......................... 6 2.2. Operating procedure ................................................ .................................................. .............. 7 3. The reaction to the aggressions of microbes .......................... ...................................... 8 3.1. Attitude of the authorities ............................................... .................................................. ........ 8 3.2. Reaction of the population: from disillusioned lassitude to violent reprisals

The phenomenon of "microbes"

Côte d'Ivoire is a country of 23,865,564 inhabitants (2016), half of whom are under 20 years of age. The city of Abidjan has a population of 4,707,404 and is home to the socio-political violence that has affected the country for more than 10 years1: organized gangs commonly known as "microbes", made up of underprivileged young people between the ages of 10 and 25, sow terror. 2 The sociologist Rodrigue Koné3 explains that this is a criminal gang phenomenon, as it exists in several major cities around the world. He recalls that this phenomenon is not new for Abidjan, but that the novelty lies in the influence of recent political-military crises. He emphasizes that "it is the consequence of socio-economic marginalization. In the 1990s, the bands competed mainly through sports competitions.4 At the same time, in the neighborhood of Abobo, a drug trafficker nicknamed Zaadi was one of the first to use the services of children break family or out of school for its distribution network across the municipality.5 All observers of the phenomenon agree on the decisive influence of the Brazilian film "The City of God", shot in a favela in Brazil where the young hero, Zé Pequeño , finally imposes itself by violence in a very poor urban environment: the disadvantaged young people of Abidjan identify with this child of the favela and dream themselves of an urban hero reigning by terror. In addition to the name "microbe", the young people of these bands are also called "vohon-vohon", a term that refers to a flying insect whose buzz disturbs.6 The origin of these negative names refers to intergenerational conflicts that are played out in the streets of Abidjan since the 1990s when confrontations were first sports before sliding towards direct violence. This particular phenomenon of gangs of very young children exerting unbridled violence on the streets of neighborhoods appeared after the 2011 post-election crisis

Precariousness of the urban fabric

A pre-report from the NGOs Interpeace and Indigo, published in 2015 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI), highlights "four main factors structuring the constant disintegration of social cohesion and narrowing the dynamics of violence involving disadvantaged youth. These are: - The political economy of social and rhetorical diversities around identities, - The recomposition of family structures and the appearance of new models of social success, - The disintegration of the school system and - struggles for the control of the economic spaces that are the bus stations. Francis Akindès, professor of sociology at the University of Bouaké, explains that the employment crisis is an important factor in the despair of Ivorian youth. More than 90% of the jobs are in the informal sector. Revenues are very low and despite strong economic growth since 2012, redistribution is weak and does not help to eradicate poverty. The country's human development index ranked 172nd out of 187 in 2015 according to UNDP8 and in 2015, 46.3% of the population lived below the poverty line.9 When the socio-economic situation worsens, parents are dying or getting sick, the older sons of disadvantaged urban families often find themselves in positions of responsibility without having the means to do so. As a result, they are forced to "get by" to meet the basic needs of their families.10 We can distinguish several life courses from "microbes": those from the ranks of veterans during the 2011 post-election crisis, those who were informants during the crisis and those who have integrated these groups just by follow-up, more recently, especially the youngest ones.11 All are from disadvantaged classes, inhabitants of popular or even precarious neighborhoods, but they are not street children.12

1.2 . Violence in the public space

1.2.1 Young people

do the coup for political parties or unions Since the 1990s, the hooligans and "old fathers" of the ghetto, such as political parties and trade unions, have used buy the services of hired thugs to perform some minor works.13 Young people are also recruited in the road transport sector, by the "unions" 14 to operate "ski lifts" 15 or "cash16". The bus station then becomes a space of self-promotion by force.17 It is also one of the informal sectors that hires the most unemployed young people.18As child soldiers in other countries, young people from underprivileged neighborhoods have sold their arms and their legs to the different protagonists of the political-military crisis between 2002 and 2011. Some young people today "microbes" served in the invisible commando of Abobo, during the battle of Abidjan.19With the years of crisis and the collapse of the school system, school no longer appears as a place of integration or social cohesion but as a place of confrontation. The Power Federation Student and School of Ivory Coast (FESCI) has largely contributed to anchor the culture of violence in the school context as the only path to success and social change.20 For "microbes",

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