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Mali and Burkina Faso have announced plans to block US citizens from entering their territories, a retaliatory step following a similar restriction imposed by the Trump administration.
Both countries were recently added to the list of nations facing full entry bans under US President Donald Trump’s expanded travel restrictions.
In separate official statements, Bamako and Ouagadougou confirmed they would mirror the US action by enforcing identical measures on American nationals.
Burkina Faso’s foreign affairs minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, said the decision was guided by the “principle of reciprocity”, while Mali’s foreign ministry stressed the need for “mutual respect and sovereign equality”.
Mali’s statement also expressed regret over Washington’s move, noting that “such an important decision was made without any prior consultation”.
The coordinated response from Mali and Burkina Faso follows a similar announcement by neighbouring Niger, which days earlier said it would also ban US citizens.
All three countries are currently governed by military juntas that came to power through coups.
They have since broken away to form their own regional bloc and shifted closer to Russia, as ties with other West African states and Western governments deteriorated.
Earlier this month, the White House confirmed that full entry restrictions would be imposed on nationals from the three Sahel states, alongside South Sudan, Syria and Palestinian Authority passport holders.
The policy, scheduled to take effect on 1 January, was described as a move to “protect the security” of the United States.
The administration also upgraded Laos and Sierra Leone from partial to full restrictions, while placing limited entry curbs on 15 other countries, including Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
