On August 18, 2025, Burkina Faso’s military junta expelled the United Nations’ top representative, Carol Flore-Smereczniak, thrusting the West African nation’s ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis back into the international spotlight. The move, which comes after a damning UN report detailed widespread violations of children’s rights amid the country’s jihadist insurgency, has drawn sharp criticism and renewed debate over the complex realities facing Burkina Faso.
The controversy centers on a report published in March 2025, titled Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso. According to BBC News and multiple other sources, the document covers a two-year period and catalogues more than 2,000 cases of grave violations against minors. These include the recruitment and use of children by armed groups, killings and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions, and the denial of humanitarian access. The report attributes most of these abuses to jihadist factions—specifically, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). However, it also implicates Burkina Faso’s own security forces and their civilian auxiliaries, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Nation, in approximately one-fifth of the documented violations.
The government’s reaction was swift and unequivocal. In a statement, authorities declared Flore-Smereczniak “persona non grata,” accusing her of bearing “responsibility” for what they called a deeply flawed and baseless report. The junta argued that the report was “a compilation of baseless assertions and falsehoods,” criticizing it for lacking appendices, investigation reports, or court rulings to support the alleged violations attributed to Burkinabe fighters. As reported by The Guardian and other outlets, the government dismissed the document as unreliable and rejected all accusations against its military and allied civilian forces.
Despite the government’s denials, UN investigators presented detailed findings. They documented, among other abuses, that the Volunteers for the Defence of the Nation had kidnapped 23 children and were implicated in four out of 20 verified cases of rape. The report’s authors emphasized the scale and severity of the crisis, warning that children continue to suffer the brunt of a conflict that has raged for more than a decade.
Burkina Faso’s struggle with jihadist insurgency began in 2015 and has only intensified over the years. According to the UN and corroborated by Al Jazeera and BBC News, more than 26,000 people have lost their lives in the violence, with over half of those deaths occurring in the past three years alone. The insurgency, driven by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, has forced millions from their homes, devastated communities, and fueled political instability. In 2022, the country experienced two military coups, the latter of which brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré and his junta to power.
Upon seizing control in September 2022, Captain Traoré promised to restore order and address the security crisis within “two to three months.” However, as the years have passed, the violence has only escalated. In the first half of 2025, JNIM claimed responsibility for over 280 attacks in Burkina Faso—double the number recorded in the same period the previous year, according to data verified by the BBC. Meanwhile, rights groups have accused both the army and its allied militias of targeting civilians, suppressing political opposition, and curtailing freedom of expression.
Carol Flore-Smereczniak, a Mauritian national with more than two decades of experience working in conflict and post-conflict zones, was appointed as the UN resident humanitarian coordinator in Burkina Faso in July 2024. Her expulsion marks the second time in recent years that a senior UN official has been forced out by the Burkinabe authorities. In December 2022, her predecessor, Italian official Barbara Manzi, was also declared “persona non grata” after publishing a blog post that described how the crisis was shuttering schools and health services across the country.
The junta’s repeated expulsions of UN officials underscore the fraught relationship between the military government and international organizations. After Manzi’s expulsion, the UN Secretary-General expressed regret, reiterating the organization’s commitment to supporting the people of Burkina Faso. However, the government has consistently rejected outside criticism, insisting that its “valiant Burkinabe fighters” are unfairly maligned and that international reports are marred by inaccuracies and bias.
This latest expulsion also comes against a backdrop of shifting alliances and rising nationalism in Burkina Faso’s foreign policy. Since taking power, Captain Traoré has distanced the country from its former colonial ruler France, instead seeking closer ties with Russia. The junta has extended its rule for an additional five years and announced that Traoré will be eligible to run for president in 2029, a move that has sparked both hope and concern among different segments of the population.
For many Burkinabés, the security situation remains dire. Attacks by jihadist groups have become more frequent and deadly, with civilians, especially children, often caught in the crossfire. The government’s civilian auxiliaries, intended to bolster the military’s efforts, have themselves faced allegations of human rights abuses, further complicating the picture. As noted in the UN report, “the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons in relation to schools and/or hospitals, the abduction of children and the denial of humanitarian access” remain persistent threats.
The international community has responded with alarm to both the findings of the UN report and the expulsion of its lead author. Human rights organizations warn that the government’s refusal to engage with outside investigators may hinder efforts to protect vulnerable populations and address the root causes of the conflict. At the same time, supporters of the junta argue that such reports are part of a broader campaign to undermine national sovereignty and discredit the military’s efforts to restore order.
As Burkina Faso marks another turbulent chapter in its ongoing crisis, the expulsion of Carol Flore-Smereczniak stands as a stark reminder of the challenges facing those who seek to document and address human rights abuses in conflict zones. The fate of the country’s children, and the prospects for peace, remain uncertain as violence continues to escalate and political tensions deepen.
With the security situation deteriorating and the government’s relations with international organizations fraying, Burkina Faso’s future hangs in the balance—caught between the urgent need for protection and accountability, and the realities of a protracted and brutal conflict.
