Burkina Faso's military gov't arrests European NGO workers for spying'

"Dutch humanitarian organisation INSO rejected the allegations and called for the release of its eight staff members. Burkina Faso's military government says it has arrested eight people working for a humanitarian organisation, accusing them of spying and treason, allegations the Dutch nonprofit categorically rejected. Burkina Faso's Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the eight people arrested worked for the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), a Netherlands-based group specialising in humanitarian safety."

"The Hague-based humanitarian organisation issued a statement on Tuesday saying it categorically rejected the allegations about its activities in Burkina Faso. [We] remain committed to doing everything in our power to secure the safe release of all our colleagues, INSO said in the statement. INSO also said it collects information exclusively for the purpose of keeping humanitarians safe, and that the information it gathers is not confidential and is largely already known to the public."

Burkina Faso's military government arrested eight people working for the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), accusing them of spying and treason. Those detained included a French man, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian and four Burkinabe nationals. Authorities allege the individuals continued working after INSO was banned for three months and collected sensitive data without authorisation. The security minister accused some staff of clandestine information collection and meetings, and of passing sensitive security information to foreign powers. INSO categorically rejected the allegations, said its data collection aims solely to keep humanitarians safe, and called for the safe release of its colleagues. Burkina Faso's military government has distanced itself from the West, particularly France.

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