Burkina Faso Is Safe to Visit For Tourism & Business Despite The U.S. State Department & TikTok Videos With False & Old Claims

Tuesday, 7 November 2023

By: TB Obwoge

Several videos posted on TikTok claim that Burkina Faso is listed as the 4th un-safest place in the world to visit. This was a claim according to one TikTok poster (with hundreds of thousands of followers) by the U.S. State Department, which was because of the kidnapping of American citizens a few years prior.

However the American embassy in the country remained open, they were even hiring staff. Unlike the Canadian embassy in Nigeria which recently closed siting that terrorism was the reason, people will still continue to visit Nigeria.

This is the same for Cameroon, which has been dealing with an Anglophone civil war for around 7-years now. Ghana as well has tribal fighting within their country, which they have been arresting journalists for reporting on for years. However Ghana has never been placed on a travel warning by the United States states department.

Ghana has been home to several violent conflicts, blamed on outside terrorism even with Ghanians being arrested, the blame always goes to outside forces. The United States never issues travel warnings to Ghana.

During this year under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré the country has managed to fight back terrorism but also resume holding the several festivals that the country is widely known for holding.

From music to film, the Tour Du Faso 2023 was recently held in the country, with photos of the American flag shown among the sponsors. This is the type of hypocrisy that the United States shows towards African countries.

From this post made by the transitional president on his Twitter X account, you can't help but notice that the United States is listed on the banner as sponsors.

It's hypocritical to see that activities in the country are taking place as normal, yet because of France and America's hatred for the leadership they portray Burkina Faso as violent and dangerous to visit.

There are several beautiful things to be seen in Burkina Faso. People shy away from the country for their inability to speak French.

However many of these same people will travel to France or parts of Canada where French is used more than English.

Here is what is listed on the United States website about Burkina Faso;

Do not travel to Burkina Faso due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping. Country Summary: Terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Burkina Faso. Terrorists may conduct attacks anywhere with little or no warning.

Kidnapping and hostage taking is a threat throughout the country. On May 10, 2019 a hostage rescue operation freed four international hostages that had been kidnapped in Burkina Faso and in neighboring Benin.

The Government of Burkina Faso has maintained a state of emergency in the entire East and Sahel regions, the provinces of Kossi and Sourou in the Boucle de Mouhoun region, the province of Kenedougou in the Hauts Bassins region, the province of Loroum in the North region, and the province of Koulpelogo in the Center-East region.

The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens throughout most of the country, as U.S. government personnel are restricted from travelling to regions outside the capital due to security concerns. The U.S. Embassy prohibits U.S. government personnel from personal travel to the Karpala, Balkiui and Rayongo (also known as Dayongo) neighborhoods of Ouagadougou’s Arrondissement 11 due to the potential for security operations.

Source US State Department Website

Let's take this warning in context, Ghana police have arrested and held journalists for days even weeks without telling them why they were being held or reporting the detainment. This happened in Ho, Ghana to LGTBQ activists as well, in Ghana men were beaten and thrown into a gutter for "looking effeminate", yet the U.S. never issued warnings.

Ghana's police beat citizens during their most recent protests and even grabbed a BBC News reporter and their camera-person. Ghana's military have also beat citizens twice in Ghana, one it was 175 men, just recently it happened and one person died from the beatings. Again no warnings from America.

It would make more sense to issue warnings about being assaulted for simply "looking" a certain way. However since the Ghana government plays nice with the USA there are no warnings. Even after 8 people died during the 2020 elections, there was no pushback from the US State Department about Ghana.

Unlike the scamming and corruption that awaits tourists in Ghana, Burkina Faso which has much less tourism would be a breath of fresh air. Ghanians have made a buisness out of scamming thousands of people each year. A single Google search will show the several Ghanians arrested for scamming & defrauding foreign nationals.

Yes there is corruption in Burkina Faso, in which the current leadership is trying to eliminate.

It's almost draining to read the reports about Burkina Faso from the United States, while their silent on all the crimes happening in Ghana. The human rights violations, murder and corruption. While making Burkina Faso out to be so unsafe for others, while so many foreigners are going into Burkina Faso for their many events.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey's House efforts in Gender Equality & Children's Rights as it tries to move international.

©️TB Obwoge 2023 All Rights Reserved