Burundi’s foreign minister Edouard Bizimana said the government is monitoring diplomats it accuses of involvement in “hostile acts” after a video circulated on social media showing a woman who said she had left her job in Canada to join the armed group RED-Tabara.
In a post on X, Foreign Affairs Minister Edouard Bizimana alleged that “certain countries are encouraging disorder and divisions in Burundi and in the region” and said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was “closely following all diplomats involved in hostile acts” and that “measures will be taken.” He tagged the official accounts of the Canadian prime minister as well as the foreign ministries of France and Belgium.
The minister’s remarks came after a video circulated online in which a woman identifying herself as a Burundian who had been working in Canada said she had abandoned her job to join RED-Tabara.
“Even we can give up our lives, not only because of our self-interest but so that all Burundians and future generations can live well,” the woman said in the video.
She also stated that she had stopped working because she had been employed in Canada. Burundi Times has not independently verified her identity, nationality, or claims regarding her involvement with RED-Tabara.
The minister did not identify the diplomats he alleged were involved in hostile activities or provide evidence to support his assertion that foreign countries were encouraging instability in Burundi.
The latest exchange comes just one week after Burundi’s National Police presented a man identified as Clovis Ndayizeye, who authorities described as a former RED-Tabara combatant.
During a July 31 news conference, Ndayizeye said he fled Burundi in 2016 and lived in the Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda before being recruited in June 2026, receiving military training, and later being sent to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight alongside RED-Tabara. He alleged that recruits were trained by Rwandan soldiers and former Burundian military officers who left the country after the failed 2015 coup attempt.
Burundi Ministry of Interior spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye said the testimony reinforced Burundi’s longstanding accusations that Burundian refugees in Rwanda are being recruited into armed groups operating in eastern Congo with Rwandan support. Rwanda has previously rejected similar allegations made by Burundi.
The government used the news conference to urge Burundian refugees not to join armed groups and appealed to Burundians currently fighting in eastern Congo to return home, saying they would be received without reprisals and reunited with their families.
RED-Tabara has been one of the main armed groups opposed to Burundi’s government and has claimed responsibility for several attacks inside Burundi in recent years. Burundi has repeatedly accused external actors of supporting the group, allegations that have been denied by those accused.
As of publication, there had been no immediate public response from the governments of Canada, to Bizimana’s latest remarks.
