US - Gov Burkina Faso Travel Alert

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travel.state.gov: Travel

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The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the risks of travel to Burkina Faso during the October/November election season.
This Travel Alert expires on November 30, 2015.


Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled on October 11 with a possible second round of elections occurring in early November. U.S. citizens should maintain a high level of security awareness and exercise caution during the electoral period and avoid political rallies, campaign events, demonstrations, polling stations, and crowds of any kind in the weeks before and after the elections. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.

We encourage U.S. citizens to monitor local news stations for updates. There is presently no reason to believe U.S. citizens would be specifically targeted in the event of election-related unrest, but instances of civic unrest through the election period are possible. U.S. citizens should maintain adequate supplies of food, water, essential medicines, and other supplies to shelter in place for at least 72 hours should this become necessary. Additional recommendations on emergency preparedness are available on the Travel.State.gov web page “Emergencies Abroad.”

For further information:

  • See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, andCountry Specific Information for Burkina Faso.
  • Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
  • Contact the U.S. Embassy Ouagadougou, in Ouaga 2000, Sector 15, on Avenue Sembene Ousmane, southeast of the Monument aux Héros Nationaux, at (+226) 25-49-53-00, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday. If you are a U.S. citizen in an emergency situation after normal Embassy operating hours, please contact the Embassy, dial “1,” and ask to be connected to the duty officer.
  • Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

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