DAKAR, Senegal — Burkina Faso has firmly rejected a proposal from the United States to accept deportees — including non-citizens — expelled under the Trump administration’s immigration programme, calling the request “indecent” and an affront to national dignity.
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP), Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré announced on national television Thursday that the U.S. government had approached Burkina Faso with an offer to take in deportees who were not its nationals.
“Naturally, this proposal, which we deemed indecent at the time, is totally contrary to the value of dignity which is part of the very essence of the vision of Capt. Ibrahim Traoré,” the minister said, referring to the country’s military ruler.
The announcement came just hours after the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou abruptly suspended most visa services for Burkinabe citizens, directing applicants to its mission in neighbouring Togo. No official explanation was provided for the decision.
Traoré suggested the embassy’s move could be a “pressure tactic” linked to ongoing diplomatic tensions, adding that “Burkina Faso is a land of dignity, not deportation.”
The AP reported that neither the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to requests for comment.
The development follows the expansion of a controversial U.S. third-country deportation scheme, under which more than 40 deportees have been sent to African nations including Eswatini, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Ghana since July. Human rights organisations have condemned the programme as secretive and coercive.
Human Rights Watch said last month that the Trump administration offered financial incentives to some African governments in exchange for accepting deportees. Documents reviewed by the organisation reportedly show that Eswatini agreed to receive $5.1 million in U.S. migration aid, while Rwanda is set to receive $7.5 million for similar cooperation.
In Ghana, eleven of fourteen deportees sent last month have since filed lawsuits against the government, alleging they were held under “inhumane conditions” at a military base near Accra. Meanwhile, six deportees remain detained in South Sudan, and seven others in Rwanda, with little public information about their treatment or legal status.
The Burkinabe government’s rejection marks a significant diplomatic stance by the Sahel nation, which has increasingly sought to assert independence in its foreign policy amid strained relations with Western powers and growing ties with Russia.
“Our sovereignty and dignity are not for sale,” Traoré emphasised.
