Burkina Faso has rejected a US plan to accept deportees under Trump’s immigration policy, calling it “indecent” and an affront to the nation’s dignity.
Burkina Faso has rejected a proposal from the United States to accept deportees expelled under President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, describing the move as “indecent” and contrary to national dignity.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has intensified deportations, including sending migrants to third countries with no direct ties to them. While nations such as Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan have complied, Burkina Faso announced late Thursday that it would not participate.
“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 in a televised address.
Hours earlier, the US embassy in Ouagadougou suspended most visa services for Burkinabe citizens, redirecting them to Togo. Reacting to the move, Traore added: “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.”
Led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in 2022, the junta has distanced itself from Western allies, instead aligning more closely with Russia.