Burkina Faso is a State party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and to the 1967 Protocol, as well as the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. Furthermore, Burkina Faso is also a State party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, however, it has not yet acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which establishes an international framework to ensure the right of every person to a nationality by implementing safeguards to prevent statelessness at birth and later in life. 

Burkina Faso’s most recent protection-related national legislation, the 2008 Refugee Law, incorporates the majority of provisions of the 1951 Convention and the 1969 OAU Convention. IT also provides that the Comission Nationale pour les Réfugiés is the responsible government institution in charge of refugee issues. Burkina Faso’s national constitution further states that international treaties, such as the 1951 Convention and 1969 OAU convention, take precedence over national laws.