Faith Nyasuguta
After suspending visas for artists, France is now doing the same for students from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, citing the closure of French consular services in the countries as making their delivery impossible.
For the Minister of Culture, “France has always been ready to welcome artists in danger”. “We will continue to do so”, she also said.”This is an adaptation to an extremely deteriorated security situation, which is particularly targeting French buildings and French teams in these three countries”, she added.
New visas for students coming from the three countries will not be issued, the foreign ministry told AFP on Saturday, adding that those students, researchers and artists already in France “are welcome”, and will be able to continue their activities and keep their funding.
Campus France, the agency that promotes French higher education abroad and helps foreign students in France said that scholarships awarded to students from the three countries who are already in France will “stay active”.
France’s research and higher education minister said that visa services would be suspended for security reasons, but that existing cooperation with universities and other scientific establishments would not be interrupted.
France has strong academic ties with Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, which are former French colonies and members of the Francophonie. France is one of the main destinations for students from these countries who want to pursue higher education abroad.
Some 6,700 students are currently in France, including 3,000 from Mali, 2,500 from Burkina Faso and 1,200 from Niger.
France also has several cooperation agreements with universities and research institutions in the three countries, covering areas such as agriculture, environment, energy, health and culture. France also supports several academic mobility programs and scholarships for students and researchers from these countries.
The foreign ministry “never gave instructions to suspend cooperation with Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, or its citizens. It is France’s cooperation with these three countries that is suspended, given the security and political context,” the ministry said in response to criticism that it had effectively boycotted artists by suspending their visas.
A few days after the coup in Niger, France suspended its cooperation with the country on 29 July and with Burkina Faso on 6 August. A similar decision was made in regards to Mali in November 2022.
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