Since Captain Ibrahim Traoré took power in Burkina Faso through a coup in September 2022, the country has grappled with severe security challenges. Amid this turmoil, several journalists and civil society members have chosen exile to escape what they describe as arbitrary pressures and threats tied to their professional work.

In Côte d’Ivoire, home to a significant Burkinabè diaspora, three journalists and a judicial figure recount their hurried departures—sometimes under cover of night—and their uncertain futures. Their accounts highlight the mounting difficulties faced by dissenting voices in a nation where dissent is increasingly met with coercive measures.

Defying threats to keep informing the public

Each of them left Burkina Faso fearing forced conscription into the military or reprisals for their journalistic activities. One continues to report under a pseudonym, while another now mentors young investigative journalists. Many have faced relentless online harassment and live with the constant dread of being tracked down, even from abroad.

Human rights advocates have repeatedly condemned the use of a general mobilization decree to target critics of the regime. Thus far, Burkina Faso’s authorities have not responded to these testimonies.

A return dependent on political and security progress

For these exiles, Côte d’Ivoire serves as a sanctuary. Though they dream of returning home, they insist the decision hinges on tangible improvements in the political and security landscape. Their narratives underscore the ongoing struggles of Burkinabè journalists and opposition figures who have endured nearly four years of intensified pressures—a reality justified by authorities as essential to combating jihadist groups that have plagued the nation for over a decade.