Burkina not fully recommended for travelers, according to the Quai d’Orsay

Burkina Faso, once very popular with tourists but has been the target of recurring jihadist attacks since 2015, is now entirely « inadvisable unless there is a compelling reason » or « formally inadvisable » by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Quai d’Orsay has updated its map of travel advice on Burkina and now the red zone (formally deprecated) remains the same, covering all the North, East and the western borders while the rest of the country is now orange (not recommended unless imperative).

Until recently the center of the country and the capital were still in yellow (increased vigilance).

The security deterioration in the Sahel is very worrying. The epicenter of insecurity was previously in Mali, today Burkina Faso is now at the heart of the conflict

Attacks attributed to jihadist groups, some affiliated with al Qaeda, others to the Islamic State movement, have killed nearly 700 people since early 2015, according to an AFP count, and about 500,000 internally displaced persons and refugees, according to the report. ‘UN.

« The security deterioration in the Sahel is very worrying. The epicenter of insecurity was previously in Mali, today Burkina Faso is now at the heart of the conflict, « said Tuesday Patrick Youssef, deputy director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for Africa, at a press conference at the Dakar Forum on Security Issues.

« Since the beginning of the year, the number of IDPs has increased sharply. Only between July and September, their number rose from 280,000 to 485,000, « he said, pointing out that the situation has particularly deteriorated in the province of Soum (northern Burkina Faso, on the border with Mali). ), where « armed groups are gradually taking over territorial control of the area ».

In recent months in Burkina Faso, « more than 100 health centers have stopped functioning, they no longer receive medical assistance to help populations or have been the target of attacks, » said the ICRC representative.

In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, « the emergence of new armed groups and their fragmentation make it increasingly difficult to obtain guarantees to travel to the areas affected by the violence, » he said. urging the Sahel states to « work to ensure access to humanitarian aid ».