102. The Commission notes that these initial waves of migration continued at a much slower pace before intensifying during the colonial period particularly from 1919 through recruitment of workers from Upper Volta (current Burkina Faso) for the development of export crop cultivation in the South of Côte d’Ivoire. The colonial power had then changed the borders of the territories between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, to constitute a unified territory of « Upper Côte d’Ivoire » in order to facilitate the movement of agricultural workers from Upper Volta (called Burkina Faso today) in the North to the South. The said territory was further divided into two in 1947 but the migration continued. From 1960, the first President of independent Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Félix Houphouët-Boigny encouraged and facilitated these movements.21 The consequence was that, in the middle of the 1980’s, Côte d’Ivoire was already the melting pot of ethno-cultural groups originally coming from seven different prospective African States in the West mentioned above. It is a well known fact that Côte d’Ivoire was therefore positioned as a country of immigration par excellence in West Africa.22 103. More importantly, the Commission notes that among the population which migrated to Côte d’Ivoire between the 13th century and the period of independence, the term « Dioula » refers mainly to the Mandé from the North and the Upper Voltans who in 1998 constituted 34 percent of the population. That said, the people who were originally from several countries in West Africa, particularly the immigrants from Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, who migrated just before or after the independence were also identified as « Dioula ». 104. To conclude on the historical basis of the claim by the Dioulas to Ivorian nationality, the Commission notes that the settlement of Dioulas on the current Ivorian territory from the initial migrations of the 13th century up till the independence period continued without any interruptions. In the absence of migratory flows the other way round, these Dioulas became an integral and a definitive part of the formation of the Ivorian ethno-cultural landscape as confirmed by competent official departments of the Ivorian State.23 In other Côte d’Ivoire ‘Histoire’ http://www.diakadi.com/afriquedelouest/pays/cote_d_ivoire/infos/hist.htm (consulté 14 octobre 2014) ; 21 See Manby op. cit. 115-119 ; Doumbia op. cit. 2-5. 22 See Internationational Organization for Migration Migration in Côte d’Ivoire : Profil national 2009 (2009) http://www.iomdakar.org/profiles/fr/content/profil-migratoire-cote-divoire (consulté, 14 octobre 2014) ; ECOWAS ‘Migrants in periods of crisis in the ECOWAS region’ http://www.processusderabat.net/web/uploads/Paris-meeting-2014/FR/Migrants-en-periode-decrise-dans-l-espace-CEDEAO_S.Nfaly_FR.pdf (consulted, 14 October 2014) ; S Bredeloup ‘La Côte d’Ivoire ou l’étrange destin de l’étranger’ 19 (2003) Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales 16-17. 23 See particularly National Statistical Institute of Côte d’Ivoire, General Population Census, 1998. 29