France has suspended visa issuance to nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—allegedly due to “security reasons”—thereby depriving students of their educational and professional dreams and dashing their hopes for a better life.
Over the past three years, military officials have forcibly assumed leadership of countries besieged by jihadism and plunged into turmoil, and France has responded with accusations that these countries simply do not adhere to safety standards to which French nationals are accustomed.
Faced with hostile demonstrations and attacks on its presence, France expanded its “red zone” categorization to the capitals of these three nations in August.
The military takeover in Niger–like recent coups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali comprising the Sahel strip–occurred amid a growing tide of Francophobic sentiment, with numerous stakeholders accusing France of intervening in their domestic affairs.
The suspension of visa issuance by local consulates is just one component of what Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna has essentially sanitized as the “downsizing of our embassies.”
It impacts not only students, but also scholars and artists. When word of the suspension reached the artists, the French artistic community erupted. The administration was accused of retaliating at the price of culture.
The actual number of students affected has not been determined by French or Sahelian education officials. According to the Conseil des Nigériens de France (CONIF), there are 380 individuals affected in Niger alone.
According to Campus France, the French organization which promotes French higher education overseas, there were approximately 3,000 students from Mali, 2,500 from Burkina Faso, and 1,200 from Niger studying in France last year.
The French authorities invoked the safety of agents in the countries in question, and claimed that the reduced amount of staffing has been complicating the issuing of visas.