Policies and Institutions

The main migration policy instruments in Burkina Faso:

Non-exhaustive list of key policy documents in the area of migration:

• 1974: ratification of the 1969 AU Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.
• 1979: the ECOWAS Protocols relating to the Free Movement of Persons, the Right of Residence and Establishment (1979, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990).
• 1980: ratification of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
• 1984: Ordinance No. 84-49 of 4 August 1984 setting conditions of entry, residence, and exit for Burkina Faso citizens and foreign nationals.
• 2002: ratification of the 2000 Protocols on Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants.
• 2003: ratification of the 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
• 2008: Law n°029/2008 of 26 June 2008 on the fight against trafficking in persons and similar practices.

In addition to these various instruments, Burkina Faso has adopted or ratified around twenty multilateral texts, twenty bilateral texts, four regional texts, around twenty subregional texts and about ten national texts, all relating to migration.

The main ministries in charge of migration affairs in Burkina Faso:

• Ministry of African Integration and Burkinabè Abroad: is in charge of migration, African integration, the promotion and management of matters relating to Burkinabè residing abroad;
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation: in charge of managing matters related to refugees.
• Ministry of Security: in charge of managing immigration, deliverance of ordinary passports, border management, and fight against migrant smuggling.
• Ministry of Economy and Finance: oversees the National Migration Strategy.
• Ministry of Women, National Solidarity and the Family: manages the reception of returning migrants together with the Ministry of African Integration and Burkinabè Abroad.

Sources:

• ICMPD et OIM (2016): Enquête sur les politiques migratoires en Afrique de l’Ouest. Deuxième édition.
• Organisation Internationale pour les migrations (OIM 2016): Migration au Burkina Faso: Profil National.
• United Nations DESA-Population Division and UNICEF (2014): Migration Profiles - Common Set of Indicators.

Last updated: November 2018