Burkina Faso Detains NGO Workers, Including Europeans, on Espionage Charges.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso’s military government has detained eight staff members of a Netherlands-based humanitarian organization, accusing them of espionage and treason for allegedly collecting and transmitting sensitive security information to foreign entities.

Security Minister Mahamadou Sana announced the arrests on Tuesday, identifying the detainees as employees of the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), a The Hague–based group that provides safety and security advice to aid agencies operating in conflict zones.

According to Sana, the group includes three Europeans, one Malian national, and four Burkinabè citizens, among them INSO’s country director and deputy director, who had both been detained earlier in July.

The minister claimed that despite a three-month suspension imposed on INSO for “collecting sensitive data without authorization,” its staff continued “clandestine” activities, including unauthorized meetings and online information exchanges with foreign entities.

“Their actions were detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso,” Sana said, without naming the countries allegedly involved.

The European nationals were identified as a French man, a French-Senegalese woman, and a Czech man.

In a statement issued later, INSO denied the allegations, insisting it had halted all field operations in Burkina Faso on July 31 in full compliance with the suspension order.

“We firmly reject these unfounded accusations,” the organization said, explaining that remaining staff in the country were focused solely on assisting detained colleagues and fulfilling administrative obligations.

An INSO representative, Anthony Neal, told the BBC that the group “poses no threat” and remains committed to safeguarding humanitarian workers amid Burkina Faso’s worsening jihadist insurgency.

The arrests mark the latest flashpoint in the junta’s increasingly fraught relationship with Western partners. Since seizing power in September 2022,

Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s government has expelled French forces, severed several European security partnerships, and deepened ties with Russia.

Earlier this year, Ouagadougou and Moscow signed agreements to boost trade and economic cooperation.

Human rights groups have voiced concern that the crackdown on NGOs and civil society could undermine humanitarian efforts in a country where Islamist violence has displaced over two million people and killed thousands since 2015.

As of October 29, all eight detainees remain in custody, with no formal charges filed or trial date announced.

International observers are closely monitoring the case, viewing it as part of a wider pattern of tightening restrictions on foreign organizations operating across the Sahel region.