Burkina Faso’s escalating violence reflects neocolonial militarisation and resource extraction conflicts, with 1,800+ civilian deaths since 2023
Original framing: “Burkina Faso military, allies committing ‘horrific’ civilian abuses: HRW” — Al Jazeera
The original framing omits the historical context of French colonial extraction, the role of Burkina Faso’s former president Roch Kaboré in deepening ties with Western militaries, the impact of gold mining on local communities, and the voices of Burkinabè civil society organisations advocating for nonviolent conflict resolution. It also neglects the regional dynamics of the Sahel insurgency, including the role of Libyan arms flows post-Gaddafi and the failure of the G5 Sahel alliance. Indigenous Fulani pastoralist perspectives on land dispossession and climate-induced migration are entirely absent.
High structural omission detected in mainstream coverage.
The narrative is produced by Western human rights organisations (HRW) and international media outlets (Al Jazeera) that centre liberal humanitarian frameworks, which often serve to justify foreign intervention or sanctions while obscuring the complicity of Western governments in propping up authoritarian regimes. The framing serves the interests of global elites by portraying Africa as a site of perpetual crisis requiring external 'solutions,' thereby legitimising neocolonial security architectures. It obscures the role of former colonial powers (France) and multinational corporations in destabilising the region through resource extraction and arms sales.
The current violence must be situated within the legacy of French colonial extraction, particularly the forced labour systems of the early 20th century and the post-independence neocolonial arrangements that maintained French control over Burkina Faso’s uranium and gold resources. The 2014 popular uprising against Blaise Compaoré, who ruled for 27 years with French support, marked a turning point, but the subsequent instability was exacerbated by France’s Operation Barkhane and the 2022 military coups that rejected Western influence. Historical parallels include Algeria’s post-colonial civil war and Chad’s French-backed counterinsurgency failures.
Burkina Faso’s crisis is not an aberration but a predictable outcome of neocolonial resource extraction, French military interventionism, and the erosion of indigenous governance systems.