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Burkina Faso’s military-led government announced on Tuesday that it has arrested eight members of a humanitarian organisation, including three Europeans, on accusations of espionage and treason.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said those arrested worked for the Netherlands-based International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), which provides security assessments and analysis for humanitarian agencies.
The detainees include a French national, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech citizen, a Malian, and four Burkinabe nationals. Among them are the NGO’s country director and deputy director in Burkina Faso.
According to Sana, the arrests follow the organisation’s earlier suspension in July, when authorities accused INSO of “collecting sensitive data without authorisation.”
The group had been banned from operating for three months, but officials claim some of its members continued their work secretly.
Sana alleged that INSO “collected and passed on sensitive security information that could be detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso to foreign powers.”
He added that despite the suspension issued on July 31, some staff members “continued to clandestinely or covertly conduct activities such as information collection and meetings in person or online.”
INSO, headquartered in The Hague, has not yet publicly responded to the allegations. The organisation supports humanitarian groups by providing safety briefings and situational analyses in conflict zones.
Since coming to power in a September 2022 coup, Burkina Faso’s ruling junta has distanced itself from Western nations, particularly its former colonial power, France.
The regime has also tightened restrictions on civil society and the media, often citing national security concerns as justification for suppressing dissent.
The country has been battling a prolonged insurgency linked to jihadist groups for nearly a decade, a conflict that has displaced millions and fuelled instability across the Sahel region.
