Mali and Burkina Faso Bar U.S. Citizens in Response to Washington’s Visa Restrictions

Mali and Burkina Faso announced immediate bans on American travelers, saying they were acting “in accordance with the principle of reciprocity” after the Trump administration expanded U.S. travel restrictions to include the two West African countries. The decisions, announced on Tuesday, followed a similar move by Niger last week and apply the same entry limits on U.S.

citizens that Washington imposed on their nationals. The United States first imposed travel restrictions on 12 countries in June and this month expanded the list to 19, including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, raising the total number of affected African states to 12. The U.S. has travel advisories for all three Sahel countries and has warned citizens not to travel there because of terrorism, crime and kidnapping.

The United Nations says the Sahel, particularly Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, accounts for more than half of the world’s terrorism-related deaths. Mali’s foreign ministry rejected the U.S. rationale that the visa ban was about security and said the decision was made without consulting Mali.

Mali previously imposed a reciprocal measure in October requiring a $5,000 to $10,000 bond for American visitors in response to a U.S. program; Mali was removed from that U.S. list weeks later. Some African governments that have agreed to accept deportees from the United States have won exemptions from U.S.

Key Topics

World, Travel Ban, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sahel, United States, Niger