Relations between France and one of its former colonies, Burkina Faso, have been deteriorating ever since a military junta took power at the end of September 2022. In its latest move, the Burkinabe government has expelled several journalists and reporters working for some of the main French media.
The offensive began in December with the suspension—“immediately and until further notice”—of RFI (Radio France International, a French public channel with international broadcasting), accused of broadcasting false information aimed at discrediting the junta’s power.
At the end of March, France 24’s was expelled: a government press release informed the channel on Monday, March 27th of the suspension, on the grounds that France 24 had broadcast an interview with the head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb—an interview that never took place—and was serving as “a communication agency for the terrorists.”
A few days later, on Friday, March 31st, two journalists—Sophie Douce from Le Monde and Agnès Faivre from Libération—were summoned by national security in Ouagadougou, where they were ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. They arrived in Paris on Sunday, April 2nd. The government has accused the daily Libération of publishing an investigation on March 27th, showing a video of the execution of children and teenagers in military barracks, with the participation of a Burkinabe soldier.
The two dailies, Le Monde and Libération, strongly condemned the decision to expel their journalists, recalling that they were working with visas and accreditation, in all legality and with professional conscience. Le Monde‘s director Jérôme Fenoglio “calls on the local authorities to reverse these decisions as quickly as possible and to re-establish without delay the conditions for independent information in the country.”
For the time being, only the French media have been restricted by the Ouagadougou government, which has also exhibited hostility towards France by demanding the departure of the French ambassador and French soldiers posted in Burkina Faso. Shortly before the expulsion of the journalists, the government denounced a cooperation and assistance agreement signed with France in 1961.
