Burkina Faso kicks against US plan to deport migrants to its territory, calls proposal indecent

 

 

Burkina Faso’s military government has rejected a proposal from Washington to accept migrants deported from the United States, dismissing it as an affront to national dignity.

The move is a clear rebuff to one of President Donald Trump’s hallmark immigration policies, which seeks to relocate deported individuals to third countries—even when they have no ties to those nations.

While several African countries, including Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan, have recently agreed to receive deportees from the US, Burkina Faso has taken a firm stand against the idea.

“Naturally, this proposal, which we considered indecent at the time, runs completely contrary to the principle of dignity,” Foreign Affairs Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said during a televised address late Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the US embassy in Ouagadougou announced a suspension of regular visa services for most applicants in Burkina Faso. Citizens seeking such services will now have to visit the American embassy in Lomé, the capital of neighboring Togo.

“Is this a way to put pressure on us? Is this blackmail? Whatever it is… Burkina Faso is a place of dignity, a destination, not a place of expulsion,” Traore added.

Burkina Faso’s military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a September 2022 coup, has positioned himself as a staunchly anti-imperialist and Pan-African figure. Since assuming power, he has distanced the country from its former colonial ruler, France, and the broader West, while deepening relations with Russia.

— AFP