Burkina Faso and Mali declare a reciprocal travel embargo on the United States

Mali and Burkina Faso have announced a travel ban on U.S. citizens, responding to a similar measure introduced by the Trump administration earlier this month.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministries of the two West African nations released separate statements indicating that their actions were based on “reciprocity.” This follows the announcement made by the White House on December 16, which revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump was imposing a full travel ban on them and five other countries.

The White House announced that the broadened ban, scheduled to begin on January 1, pertains to “countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to safeguard the Nation from national security and public safety threats”.

Mali stated on Tuesday that Washington’s choice to include it on the travel ban list was made without prior consultation and that the provided reasoning was not supported by “actual developments on the ground”.

Mali and Burkina Faso are not the initial nations to implement measures impacting U.S. citizens following Trump’s travel restrictions.

On December 25, neighboring Niger announced that it would cease issuing visas to U.S. citizens, according to a report from the country’s state media agency, which cited a Nigerien diplomatic source.

In June, Chad declared the suspension of visa issuance to U.S. citizens following its inclusion on a prior list of 12 countries impacted by a travel ban.