The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs issued an order this week suspending all international adoption procedures concerning children habitually resident in Burkina Faso by any person residing in France.
This measure does not apply "to procedures that have given rise, on the date of publication of this order, to a relationship by the Burkinabe Central Authority for the implementation of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993," the ministry specified in the decree.
Deteriorating Relations
Relations between the West African nation and its former colonizer continue to sour since the military coup in Burkina Faso in September 2022, the second in eight months. In March, Burkina Faso denounced a 1961 military agreement with France, a few weeks after demanding the withdrawal of the French troops that were in the country to help fight terrorists.
On September 13, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture, banned the invitation of artists, students and researchers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to French territory and suspended all cultural cooperation with these three countries.
On September 15, Burkina Faso decided to expel the military attache of the French embassy in the country, Emmanuel Pasquier, ordering him to leave the territory within two weeks, while accusing him of "subversive activities."