• Prioritize screening and reintegration of children allegedly associated with armed groups and cease inappropriately penalizing victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
• Cease the targeted conscription of public activists and critics of the transition authorities into the VDP.
• Develop, adopt, and implement a new comprehensive national action plan and dedicate resources to its implementation.
• Increase protections in the handover protocol to ensure all children allegedly associated with armed groups are adequately screened for trafficking indicators and referred to protection actors in collaboration with international organizations.
• Consistently implement SOPs for victim identification and referral to care and train front-line officials throughout the country on using SOPs to proactively identify victims, including among vulnerable populations, such as IDPs, labor migrants, children who are homeless, children associated with non-state armed groups, regime-affiliated Cuban workers, and women in commercial sex, and refer victims to protection services.
• Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, including those involving complicit officials, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.
• Increase services available to all trafficking victims, including adults, in coordination with civil society.
• Empower the national anti-trafficking committee to coordinate the transition authorities’ anti-trafficking response and implementation of its 2023-2025 NAP, including by providing financial and in-kind resources and convening regular meetings.
• Increase nationwide trafficking data collection and sharing on law enforcement and victim identification efforts.
• Institutionalize and expand anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary on investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases using the 2018 anti-trafficking law.
• Increase oversight of labor recruitment agencies and hold fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.
• Increase public awareness campaigns on all forms of trafficking, including child forced begging and trafficking that does not involve movement, in collaboration with civil society.

The transition authorities decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.

Articles 511-1 to 511-5 of the penal code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of five to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines of one million to five million West African CFA francs (FCFA) ($1,597-$7,987) for offenses involving a victim older than the age of 15, and 11 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of two million to 10 million FCFA ($3,195-$15,974) for those involving a victim 15 years old or younger. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.

Insecurity across the country hindered law enforcement and data collection efforts. The transition authorities reported prosecuting 76 alleged traffickers across eight jurisdictions in 2024. The transition authorities did not report any trafficking investigations or convictions. This compared with the transition authorities investigating 46 cases, prosecuting 57 alleged traffickers, and convicting 39 traffickers in the previous reporting period. According to NGO and media reports, the transition authorities investigated 13 trafficking cases (10 sex trafficking cases, two labor trafficking cases, and one case of an unspecified form of trafficking), prosecuted 20 alleged traffickers (10 for sex trafficking, five for labor trafficking, and five for unspecified forms of trafficking), and convicted seven traffickers (four sex traffickers and three labor traffickers). Media and NGOs reported courts sentenced two traffickers to one and two years’ imprisonment, respectively. In one case, media reported the transition authorities arrested 14 individuals who fraudulently recruited victims for employment and subsequently exploited them in forced criminality; the alleged traffickers kidnapped, ransomed, and forced the victims to recruit additional victims on the internet.

The transition authorities did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action. The transition authorities continued conscripting individuals who criticized transition authorities into the government-supported VDP forces, which may have involved forced labor. The court previously ruled in December 2023 the conscription notices of three individuals were not lawful because those individuals’ conscriptions were not for the purpose of national military operations and were rather for punishment. However, in August 2024, transition authorities conscripted at least seven judicial officials, including those who ruled against the transition authorities in the December 2023 conscription case and others who opened legal proceedings against transition authorities’ supporters. The transition authorities released these officials in December 2024. The transition authorities did not report investigating or prosecuting any officials for prior alleged complicity in the VDP forces’ unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers.

The national police and gendarmerie maintained specialized anti-trafficking units to investigate trafficking-related crimes. Child protection units, comprised of law enforcement and social workers in offices throughout the country, were in charge of identifying and supporting vulnerable children, including child trafficking victims. The judicial academy’s curriculum for prosecutors and judges included an anti-trafficking component. The transition authorities collaborated with international organizations to provide anti-trafficking trainings to members of the judiciary, social workers, border guards, law enforcement officers and immigration officers; the transition authorities reported providing continuous training on anti-trafficking legislation and policies to law enforcement personnel in the field. The transition authorities did not report collaborating with any foreign counterparts on law enforcement activities.

The transition authorities maintained insufficient protection efforts.

Weak case management and data collection hindered the transition authorities’ ability to track victim-related statistics. The transition authorities again did not report identifying or referring any trafficking victims to services in 2023, the most recent year available for government statistics. According to NGO and media reports, transition authorities identified at least 1,516 potential trafficking victims, including 60 potential sex trafficking victims and 1,456 potential forced labor victims, during the reporting period. The majority of victims (935) were Burkinabe; other victims were from Mali, Benin, Guinea, Cameroon and other West African countries. NGOs reported the transition authorities referred 270 potential child trafficking victims to services, including 269 potential forced labor victims and one potential sex trafficking victim. Authorities and front-line responders had trafficking victim identification and referral SOPs. The transition authorities trained social workers, security personnel, and members of the judiciary on the SOPs; however, officials did not consistently implement them across regions. The transition authorities had a case management guide for law enforcement and social service providers to facilitate the uniform referral of child trafficking victims to care. Officials continued to coordinate with an international organization to screen for trafficking indicators among refugees and IDPs but did not report identifying any potential victims among these populations. The Ministry of Solidarity continued an initiative to identify and refer to care vulnerable women and children who were homeless or using the streets as a source of livelihood, which included potential trafficking victims. As part of this initiative, officials identified and referred to services 157 potential trafficking victims.

The Ministry of Solidarity operated 34 transit centers for child crime victims, including trafficking victims; the centers provided limited services, including psycho-social, medical, and short-term shelter support, before reintegrating or transferring children to foster families. Two of the centers in Ouagadougou operated 24-hour shelters, provided food and medical assistance, and could accommodate long-term stays for both adults and children. The transition authorities operated 85 centers for vulnerable children providing daytime services, which could accommodate approximately 5,000 children. An international organization, in collaboration with the transition authorities, operated a transit center for migrants providing food, legal, vocational, and psycho-social services. The transition authorities operated two emergency integrated support centers for female victims of violence, including sex trafficking, and a victim support fund. It did not report how many trafficking victims, if any, the centers provided services to. The transition authorities relied heavily on local NGOs and international organizations to provide victim services without financial or in-kind support. Shelter services for adult trafficking victims were severely limited, especially outside of the capital. Long-term care for all victims remained inadequate, and service providers lacked funding and resources to support victim services and reintegration. In December 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repatriated 22 Burkinabe trafficking victims from Nigeria.

Access to victim services was not conditioned on cooperation with law enforcement proceedings. The 2018 penal code contained provisions to support victims’ participation in investigations and prosecutions, including allowing victims to testify in closed sessions or provide testimony via video, excusing victims from appearing at hearings, offering legal assistance to victim-witnesses, and allowing social workers to accompany child victims. However, the availability and quality of legal aid varied, and the use of video testimony often depended on courts’ access to the necessary technology. The law allowed victims to obtain restitution. According to media reports, one court ordered two labor traffickers to pay a total of 239,000 CFA ($382) to the parents of three children they had exploited in gold mines. Victims could file civil suits against the traffickers; however, no victims reportedly used this provision, and many victims were not aware of this option. Foreign victims who faced persecution in their country of origin could apply for asylum, but authorities did not report granting asylum to any trafficking victims.

Due to inadequate screening among vulnerable populations, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The transition authorities and an international organization maintained a protocol on the treatment of children detained by security forces for alleged association with armed groups; the protocol mandated defense forces transfer the children to social services or to the specialized juvenile justice courts within three days of identification. However, observers reported the government implemented the handover protocol inconsistently. Authorities continued inappropriately detaining and prosecuting children as young as 14 years old, including potential trafficking victims, for alleged association with armed groups, including for alleged terrorism under the criminal code. Authorities held the detained children in a high-security prison separately from adult detainees and allowed international organizations and NGOs access to provide specialized care, including education and legal services. In some cases, authorities held detainees, including children allegedly associated with armed groups, without charge or trial for longer periods than the maximum sentence for the alleged offense. Authorities have detained some boys for years; when they reached the age of 18, authorities transferred them to the adults’ prison section. Detainees, including children allegedly associated with armed groups, reportedly faced harsh conditions, including inadequate food and water, and poor ventilation, lighting, and medical care.

The transition authorities stated security forces encountered 223 children allegedly associated with armed groups in 2024. The transition authorities reported referring at least 80 of these children to protection services. The counterterrorism court prosecuted 11 children allegedly associated with armed groups during the reporting period, convicting eight children of unspecified crimes and releasing three children; the transition authorities did not provide sentencing information. The transition authorities did not report what measures, if any, were taken to screen these children for trafficking indicators.

The transition authorities slightly increased efforts to prevent trafficking.

The transition authorities’ anti-trafficking coordination committee did not meet or conduct activities for the fifth consecutive year. The Ministry of Solidarity oversaw the transition authorities’ anti-trafficking efforts and implementation of its 2023-2025 anti-trafficking NAP. The transition authorities allocated 13 million CFA ($20,767) for prevention efforts; however, officials reported more resources were needed to fully implement the NAP.

The transition authorities increased efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking, including by conducting radio programs, public debates, and poster campaigns. It also organized educational talks, film screenings, and panels on child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor in the Hauts-Bassins, Cascades, Nord, and Sud-Ouest regions. Local child protection networks comprised of community leaders, protection actors, and civil society groups coordinated local prevention and outreach efforts. The transition authorities reported organizing an awareness-raising session on child forced begging among teachers in Quranic schools; however, the transition authorities did not regulate Quranic schools to prevent child forced begging or abuse. The transition authorities issued 14,000 birth certificates to vulnerable children. The Ministry of Solidarity operated hotlines to report child abuse and violence against women and girls, including potential trafficking cases. In cooperation with an NGO, officials trained hotline operators on assisting trafficking victims. The transition authorities reported the hotline received a total of 104 calls in 2023, the most recent year statistics were available, but it did not report identifying any trafficking victims from hotline calls. The transition authorities had a child labor curriculum that included an anti-trafficking component for the labor inspectorate training academy and had a mobile application to help inspectors screen for and collect data on child labor. However, labor inspectors could not access all regions of the country due to insecurity and the transitional government did not report training inspectors, or whether any trafficking victims were identified during inspections. The transition authorities reported some efforts to monitor licensed labor recruitment agencies and ensure compliance with labor regulations, but did not provide further details.

The transition authorities did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. The transition authorities did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel. The transition authorities reported providing anti-trafficking training to its troops prior to their deployment as peacekeepers; however, although not explicitly reported as human trafficking, there were two open cases of alleged sexual exploitation with trafficking indicators by Burkinabe peacekeepers deployed to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2021. The UN substantiated the allegations, but the transition authorities had not reported the accountability measures taken, if any, by the end of the reporting period.

Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Burkina Faso, and traffickers exploit victims from Burkina Faso abroad. Traffickers exploit Burkinabe children and children from other West African countries in forced labor in agriculture, artisanal gold panning and washing, street vending, and domestic servitude. Tens of thousands of children working in artisanal mining sites are vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers exploit women and girls in sex trafficking in Ouagadougou and in mining towns. Traffickers exploit young men in forced criminality by fraudulently recruiting them online. Unscrupulous Quranic teachers force or coerce students, called talibes, to beg in the streets sometimes with parents’ knowledge. Traffickers transport Burkinabe children – including children who are homeless – to Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, and Niger for forced labor in artisanal mining, begging, and cocoa production, as well as sex trafficking. Insecurity, poverty, and a lack of required identity documents impede children’s access to education, increasing vulnerability to trafficking.

There are more than two million IDPs in Burkina Faso, more than half of which are children. Forcibly displaced persons migrating from rural areas to urban centers, and to neighboring countries, are vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking. Local officials involved in a humanitarian food assistance program reportedly exploited female IDPs in sex trafficking between October 2020 and May 2021. The transition authorities conscript critics, including journalists, activists, and political figures, into the government-supported VDP forces, which may involve forced labor. In 2022, observers verified Burkina Faso’s defense and security forces unlawfully recruited and used 10 boys in unspecified roles in 2021. Non-state armed groups exploit women and children, including IDPs, in forced labor and sex trafficking and reportedly coerce individuals to carry out attacks and otherwise act as accomplices. Non-state armed groups continue to unlawfully recruit and use child soldiers, and observers report instances of unlawful child soldier recruitment continue to increase. School closures and regional and economic instability increase children’s vulnerability to trafficking and recruitment by armed groups. Non-state armed groups leverage economic vulnerability to unlawfully recruit children, sometimes with familial support, by promising large sums of money and gifting motorcycles. Non-state armed groups also target talibes due to the boys’ lack of economic alternatives. Migrant smuggling networks facilitate sex trafficking in gold mining sites and brothels in cities and border regions.

Traffickers recruit women for ostensibly legitimate employment in the Middle East and – to a lesser extent – Europe and subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking and domestic servitude. Traffickers fraudulently recruit Nigerian women and girls for employment in shops and salons and instead exploit them in sex trafficking in mining regions, often through the use of debt bondage. Traffickers fraudulently recruit women from other West African countries for employment and subsequently exploit them in forced labor in restaurants or domestic servitude. There are Cuban regime-affiliated workers in Burkina Faso, including medical professionals and sports coaches. The Cuban regime may have forced these professionals to work in Burkina Faso. Media and NGOs report unscrupulous actors, including Russian officials and illicit recruiters, fraudulently recruit women ages 18-22 from Africa – including Burkina Faso – South Asia, and South America for vocational training programs and subsequently place them in military drone production sites. Media report workers at these sites are subjected to hazardous conditions, surveillance, hour and wage violations, contract switching, and worker-paid recruitment fees, all of which are indicators of human trafficking.