ABIDJAN: Burkina Faso’s military government said Tuesday it had arrested eight members of a humanitarian group, including three Europeans, accusing them of “spying and treason.”
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the eight were members of INSO, a Netherlands-based group specializing in humanitarian safety, and included a Frenchman, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian and four Burkinabe nationals.
Those arrested included the country director of the NGO in the west African state and his deputy, Sana said.
The director had previously been arrested at the end of July when the NGO was suspended for three months by the authorities for “collecting sensitive data without authorization.”
The NGO, based in The Hague, provides security analyzes for other humanitarian organizations.
Sana alleged it “collected and passed on sensitive security information that could be detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso, to foreign powers.”
He said that despite being banned from operating on July 31, some members “continued to clandestinely or covertly conduct activities such as information collection and meetings in person or online.”
Burkina Faso’s military junta has turned away from the West and in particular its former colonial master France since seizing power in a September 2022 coup.
Burkinabe authorities often repress dissent, notably within civil society and the media, claiming it as part of the battle against militant violence that has plagued the country for a decade.
Burkina junta arrests European NGO workers for ‘spying’
https://arab.news/ztkts
Burkina junta arrests European NGO workers for ‘spying’
- Those arrested included the country director of the NGO in the west African state and his deputy, Sana said
- The NGO, based in The Hague, provides security analyzes for other humanitarian organizations
In rare overlap, Chinese Muslims observe Ramadan with Lunar New Year
- Lunar New Year started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks
- Chinese Indonesians make up about 3 percent of the Indonesian population
JAKARTA: Every year, on the first day of Lunar New Year, Febriani visits relatives and gathers for a feast with her Chinese Muslim family, part of a long-standing tradition honoring their ethnic heritage.
But this year, as Thursday marks the beginning of Ramadan, she is celebrating two important occasions within the same week, in a rare overlap that last took place in 1995.
“I’m very happy and grateful that Lunar New Year and Ramadan are celebrated so closely. I observe both every year, so it’s truly special,” she told Arab News.
Widely observed across Asia, the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year festival is believed to date back to the 14th century B.C., to the times of the Shang Dynasty, China’s earliest ruling dynasty, when people celebrated good harvests.
In 2026, it started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks. For many, celebrations typically involve elaborate feasts, giving children pocket money in red envelopes, and watching dragon dance parades.
In Indonesia, Chinese-descent citizens make up an estimated 3 percent of the country’s Muslim-majority population of more than 280 million. While most are either Buddhists or Christians, a small minority professes Islam.
For 25-year-old Febriani, both Lunar New Year and Ramadan are equally meaningful.
“The two celebrations teach us to strengthen bonds, to share with one another, and to become closer to family,” she said.
“They are both important to me because they happen only once every year and they’re always an occasion to gather with the extended family. It is also a chance to self-reflect and strengthen relationships with your loved ones.”
For Naga Kunadi, whose family lives in Central Java’s Cepu district, Chinese New Year is all about embracing his ethnic identity.
Earlier in the week, his family was busy preparing for the new year’s feast, which was a fusion of Chinese and Indonesian dishes, such as claypot tofu, meatball soup and shumai, or steamed dumplings.
“To celebrate Chinese New Year, we prepared halal Chinese food at home. It’s also a way to introduce to my children the traditions from our Chinese side, but there’s a bit of a fusion because my wife is Javanese,” Kunadi told Arab News.
Kunadi, an Islamic teacher at the Lautze Mosque in Jakarta, sees both Chinese New Year and Ramadan as opportunities to teach important life values for his two children.
Upholding Chinese New Year traditions with his family is for him a way of preserving his ethnic heritage.
“We want to preserve cultural values as long as it does not clash with our religion,” he said.
“If we leave our culture behind, we might lose our identity, so this is something I want to teach my children.”
The fasting month of Ramadan, on the other hand, gives him a chance to teach and practice honesty.
“I want to focus on the religious and moral aspects during the holy month of Ramadan, when we practice honesty on a personal level,” Kunadi said.
“There’s always an opportunity to eat or snack in secret without anybody knowing, but we train ourselves not to do that. For me, Ramadan is a time for everyone to put honesty into practice, including myself and my children.”
