2004年，象牙海岸空军和法国维和部队的武装冲突引发了象牙海岸各地的大规模反法示威暴动。暴动人群手持弯刀等各式武器肆意攻击和劫掠法国及其他外国目标和设施，随着情况日益吃紧，数百名居住在当地的法国人为了避难，被迫拖儿带女逃离这个混乱的地方。
外电报道如下：
Hundreds of French citizens fled their former colony Ivory Coast on Wednesday after days of anti-French riots and looting in a country once seen as a model for Africa of post-independence prosperity.
Some 843 French nationals were flown to Paris from Abidjan, the main city in the world's top cocoa grower, after supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo chased the expatriates from their homes.
"I don't have a job any more or a house ... They took the bath, the furniture and electrical wires, everything," said Bruno Regis, at the airport with his wife and three children.
Expatriate有两种含义，在这里表示“移居国外的人”，此外还有“流亡国外者，放弃自己国籍的人”的含义。例如：Chinese expatriate in Paris（居住在巴黎的中国移民）。
