Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 29) sur le travail forcé, 1930 - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously noted the measures taken by the Government to raise the awareness of the population and the actors concerned regarding trafficking in persons and the creation of the National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons and regional committees to combat trafficking.

The Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication in its report that a National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons was adopted in March 2023 for the period 2023–25 (PAN-TP 2023–25), with the general objective of strengthening the country’s capacities so that by 2025 it has a more effective national system to combat trafficking through prevention, support for victims and the investigation of perpetrators. The Committee notes that, according to the PAN-TP 2023–25, Burkina Faso is a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficking in persons for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation. The PAN-TP refers in particular to trafficking for sexual exploitation in mining areas and for forced recruitment by armed groups. The PAN-TP 2023–25 also reports, as of 31 January 2023, nearly 2 million internally displaced persons in the country, who are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in persons. It also identifies several difficulties in combating trafficking in persons, including the weak penal response, data collection, the low level of human, financial and material resources, the inadequacy of care structures for victims and the security situation of the country.

The Committee welcomes the fact that the Plan of Action adopts a multidisciplinary and holistic approach and that it covers the following five action areas: institutional support framework; prevention; victim support and protection; repression; measures to promote prosecutions and protect witnesses; the strengthening of partnerships and coordination. Moreover, the follow-up and evaluation of the Plan of Action are based on defined indicators and a follow-up and evaluation report has to be prepared every six months.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the activities undertaken in 2020 and 2021, including: (i) the organization of nearly 5,500 awareness-raising activities, reaching out to over 42,500 persons, within the framework of the prevention of trafficking; (ii) the training of 79 social workers; and (iii) the integration of a module on trafficking in persons in the academic programme for judicial auditors. The Government indicates that, in 2020 and 2021, a total of 1,532 presumed victims of trafficking were identified and provided with support, of whom over 97 per cent were children. It adds that transit centres exist for victims of trafficking, which offer protection services, such as reception, accommodation, food and health services, as well as accompaniment for a safe return to their areas or countries of origin. The Government adds that, in 2021 and 2022, prosecutions were initiated in 125 cases, with 63 persons being convicted for trafficking in persons with sentences of imprisonment of from six months to five years.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue the action taken to combat trafficking in persons and requests it to provide information on the implementation of the five action areas of the PAN-TP 2023-25 and the assessments prepared in this context, with an indication of the results achieved and the difficulties encountered. It also requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement bodies, with a view to improving the identification and repression of cases of trafficking in persons, and to provide information on the number of investigations carried out and prosecutions brought in cases of trafficking in persons, as well as on the penalties imposed under sections 511-1 to 511-28 of the Penal Code. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the number of victims of trafficking identified and of those who have benefited from protection and assistance measures, as well as the measures taken to provide adequate protection against trafficking for vulnerable persons, and particularly internally displaced persons in the country, persons in mining areas and in areas of armed conflict.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.