GBOLEKEN, July 24 -- The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) said it recorded over 40,000 Burkinabe cocoa farmers to monitor and legalize their status.

"It is intended to establish how many of them entered the country and where exactly they crossed," Alex Kpakolo, Assistant Immigration Comptroller of Grand Gedeh County.

"We are taking stock of their movements and actions across the different towns, villages, districts, and communities where they are hosted. By doing this, we can easily trace them if there is a problem."

Burkinabes began to cross the Ivorian border to Liberia to plant cocoa since the 2010s. Last year, France 24 reported 25,000, capitalizing on Liberia's weak monitoring, large rainforests and higher cocoa price. Ivory Coas...