Over twenty foreign NGOs already re-registered

One month after the National Security Council has decided to suspend all foreign NGOs operating in Burundi for three months, the Ministry of Home Affairs says that the number of foreign NGOs that have already reregistered is satisfactory.

Minister Pascal Barandagiye: “From October 1 to November 5, twenty five foreign NGOs have already reregistered”

Pascal Barandagiye, Minister of Home Affairs says twenty five foreign NGOs have already re-registered until 5 November. “We think that those which have already re-registered are the real NGOs that were really operating in the country,” says Pascal Barandagiye adding that 25 foreign NGOs are sufficient for a small country like Burundi.

He says Burundi doesn’t need several NGOs which come to disturb Burundians. “We want to cooperate with NGOs which are committed to sustainable development and working closely with the population,” he says.
Minister Barandagiye also says eleven other NGOs are in the registration process to be allowed to resume activities. “Their files are not yet complete,” he says. According to him, two documents are missing especially the protocol on the implementation of the law governing NGOs in accordance with the National Development Plan and the progressive plan to correct the constitutional imbalance which has been extended to three years.

Minister Barandagiye reminds that all NGOs that meet the requirements have the right to immediately start their activities even before the deadline set up by the National Security Council. He, however, says those NGOs must work in the sector where they signed the protocol agreement with the technical ministry. “If they want to work in various sectors, they must have different agreements from different ministries,” he says.

On 26 September, the National Security Council decided to suspend all foreign NGOs operating in Burundi from October1. They were accused of not abiding by the law. They are required to submit four documents to resume their activities. Those documents are the cooperation agreement signed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the protocol on the implementation of the law governing NGOs in accordance with the National Development Plan, the agreement to respect the banking regulation in force in Burundi regarding foreign exchange as well as the progressive plan to correct the constitutional imbalance.
About 130 foreign NGOs were identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Among them, 75 are from eleven European Union countries while 31 others are from the USA.