Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, to launch biometric passports under new alliance
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from the West African bloc, ECOWAS, in favor of a new Sahel alliance, following military coups in all three countries, Mali’s leader said on Sunday.
The three junta-led Sahel neighbors announced in January that they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has tried to convince them to reconsider their decision.
Earlier this month, Burkina Faso announced it would begin issuing new passports without the ECOWAS logo.
“In the coming days, a new biometric passport from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) will be put into circulation to harmonize travel documents within our common area and facilitate the mobility of our citizens worldwide,” Malian junta leader Assimi Goita said on Sunday evening.
Goita spoke ahead of a meeting on Monday between the foreign ministers of the three countries, marking the anniversary of their decision to form their own alliance.
He also mentioned plans to launch a shared information channel “to promote the harmonious dissemination of information across our three states.”
ECOWAS has warned that the withdrawal of these three countries could undermine the freedom of movement and the common market for the 400 million people living within the 49-year-old bloc.
This move comes as the armies of these countries continue to battle insurgent groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, whose activities have destabilized the region for the past decade and now threaten to spread to coastal West African states.
