Human trafficking in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso serves as a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking, primarily involving children subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution.

In 2009, the Government of Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Social Action reported that security forces intercepted 788 children, including 619 boys, destined for exploitation in countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Niger. Within Burkina Faso, child victims in cities such as Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Nouna, and Houndé faced forced labor in plantations, mining, cocoa farms, domestic service, begging at unaccredited Koranic schools, or prostitution.

To a lesser extent, traffickers lured Burkinabe women to Europe for nonconsensual commercial sexual exploitation. Women from Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Niger migrated to Burkina Faso with promises of legitimate work but faced forced labor in bars or prostitution.

The U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed Burkina Faso on the "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017 and upgraded it to Tier 2 in 2023. In 2023, the Organised Crime Index rated trafficking severity at 7 out of 10. Burkina Faso ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in May 2002.