African Countries Rejected U.S. Deportees
Burkina Faso has refused to accept migrants deported by the United States, despite other countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, and Eswatini agreeing to take them in.
As a result, the U.S. has imposed visa sanctions on Burkina Faso, meaning its citizens will no longer be granted entry or stay visas to travel to America.
The decision was made public on Friday, October 10, 2025, in a statement broadcast on national television, where Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré announced that from now on, Burkinabe nationals seeking U.S. visas will have to apply through the U.S. Embassy in Togo instead of their own country.
Minister Traoré explained that the U.S. has repeatedly requested Burkina Faso to host some of the people it deported, but the government refused. He said: “We have no problem welcoming Burkinabe citizens, but we cannot accept people who are not from our country.”
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The Burkinabe government emphasized that the recent U.S. decision to make visa applications free for Africans does not mean that the country is obliged to take in deported migrants especially those not originating from Africa.
Burkina Faso recently announced a visa-free policy for all Africans, a move that the U.S. cited when questioning why the country refused to host the deportees despite openly welcoming Africans and even easing pathways to Burkinabe citizenship.
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A U.S.-based diplomat reportedly asked: “You say you welcome all Africans and people of African descent so why not take in those we deport, especially since some of them have African roots?”
Several African nations have accepted deported migrants from the U.S., many of whom were expelled over criminal offenses. Countries that have agreed to host them include Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan, while Burkina Faso and Nigeria have rejected the arrangement.
Some Africans have strongly criticized this U.S. deportation program, and protests have erupted in several countries opposing it. However, nations like Uganda have agreed to participate but only by accepting migrants originally from Africa.
