OUAGADOUGOU,(HAN) — Burkina Faso has rejected a U.S. proposal to take in foreigners being deported under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday.
President Trump has sought to deport millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, including arranging for some to be sent to third countries in Africa. Burkina Faso’s neighbor Ghana announced in September that it would accept nationals from other West African countries, but Burkina Faso has refused similar requests.
“Burkina Faso is not a land of deportation,” Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said on a national broadcast. He described the U.S. request as “unworthy and indecent,” adding that the country’s recent decision to lift visa fees for all Africans should not be seen as an opportunity for other nations “to get rid of certain populations that it considers undesirable.”
Burkina Faso’s military-led government, headed by Ibrahim Traore, came to power after two coups in 2022. Relations with Western powers have become increasingly strained as the junta has strengthened ties with Russia.
The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou temporarily suspended routine visa services starting Friday and advised residents to contact the U.S. embassy in Lome, Togo. The embassy did not give a reason for the suspension.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had tried to send third-country deportees to Burkina Faso. Traore did not specify what types of deportees Burkina Faso might have received if it had agreed to the proposal.
Ghana has said its decision to accept West African deportees does not constitute an endorsement of Trump’s immigration policies and that the country received no benefits in exchange.
