The detention of eight aid workers by Burkina Faso’s military junta is yet another worrying sign that the country’s leadership is turning its back on international humanitarian principles.
Development Diaries reports that according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the military junta is wrongfully detaining eight aid workers who had been helping to address the humanitarian emergency in the country.
According to a report by HRW, Burkina Faso’s intelligence service in July 2025 arrested a French national and director of the Netherlands-based International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), which works on humanitarian safety, Jean-Christophe Pégon, in the capital city, Ouagadougou.
The following month, security forces also arrested seven other INSO staff members , four Burkinabè citizens and three foreigners.
The government did not make these arrests public until 07 October, and no trial date has been set yet.
Arresting staff of the INSO on baseless charges of espionage undermines global norms and also jeopardises the lives of millions of Burkinabè citizens in dire need of assistance.
At a time when Burkina Faso faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the regime seems more interested in silencing helpers than helping its people.
Such actions suggest a government more at war with humanitarianism than with the armed groups terrorising its citizens.
Burkina Faso’s crisis is staggering. Since 2016, more than tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict, and over 2 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations.
An estimated 6.3 million people, including 3.4 million children, are in need of humanitarian aid, nearly a quarter of the population.
In some besieged areas, such as those under the control of extremist groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM), access to food, healthcare, and education has become nearly impossible.
Yet, instead of supporting organisations that risk their lives to provide relief, the junta’s heavy-handed tactics are further shrinking civic space, compounding an already desperate situation.
This crackdown on NGOs and aid workers is not an isolated incident. In recent months, the junta has expelled or suspended the operations of multiple international organisations, including the Tony Blair Institute, Diakonia, and Geneva Call, all under flimsy pretexts of ‘security concerns’ or ‘data violations’.
This pattern of paranoia and repression is pushing Burkina Faso deeper into isolation and insecurity. It also sends a chilling message to the international community: that offering humanitarian support could be treated as a criminal act.
The consequence is fewer aid groups, less access to food and medical care, and greater suffering for ordinary citizens trapped between extremist violence and government distrust.
The junta must immediately drop the charges against the detained INSO workers and release them unconditionally. It must also restore operational freedom to all humanitarian organisations and allow them to deliver life-saving assistance without fear of reprisal.
The international community, including the African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the United Nations, must step up diplomatic pressure to ensure accountability.
Burkina Faso’s people need bread, not bans; protection, not persecution.
Photo source: EUCPHA
