25/05/2026
🔴 Ambassador Thérence Ntahiraja reportedly confirmed very serious matters!
Burundi’s representative in Belgium, Ambassador Thérence Ntahiraja, gave an interview yesterday on a YouTube channel called YouTube “Main Switch 257.” During the interview, Thérence Ntahiraja spoke very freely, using language unusual for diplomats, and delivered two major messages concerning Rwanda and Burundian refugees in Belgium.
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🔴 Rwanda and his excellency president Paul Kagame should prepare for attacks
For some time, reports have circulated claiming that certain Rwandan opposition figures were allegedly meeting secretly at Ambassador Ntahiraja’s residence to organize a political group that could launch attacks against Rwanda.
In what appeared to be a joking manner, Ambassador Ntahiraja invited Rwanda to prepare for such attacks, adding that they would allegedly be carried out by refugees who fled in 1996 (perhaps he misspoke and meant 1994). In the end, he implied that he himself hosts those meetings while also clearly indicating who would allegedly carry out the attacks and why they would do so.
In diplomacy, language like this is often interpreted as confirming suspicions that already existed. He made these remarks at a time when Burundi is already accused of cooperating with the FDLR in the DRC and sheltering armed Rwandan groups.
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🔴 Threats against Burundian refugees
Ambassador Ntahiraja clearly stated that he possesses the addresses of refugees living in Belgium and that he monitors all their movements.
He especially referred to the 34 individuals sanctioned internationally by the CNDD-FDD government, including human rights activists, politicians, and former military officers. Thérence Ntahiraja expressed frustration that Belgium continues allowing them the freedom to express their views. He said he would like Belgium to hand those individuals over, while acknowledging that this remains a point of disagreement.
Using threatening language, Ambassador Ntahiraja said:
“They should not think that just because we are silent, we are doing nothing.”
This was interpreted as meaning that he knows where every one of them lives and tracks all of their activities.
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🔴 We already know very well what Ambassador Thérence Ntahiraja is involved in!
One positive thing Ambassador Ntahiraja did was confirm what many already suspected. Nothing he said was surprising. It is already known that Burundi’s intelligence services have expanded networks of informants tasked with monitoring opposition figures living in Belgium.
Many of these informants reportedly pose as refugees themselves. They infiltrate Burundian communities and opposition groups, pretending to oppose the government while actually gathering intelligence. One of the most common things they ask is where different people live. The author says this is well known.
Another major objective is tracking people’s movements.
Ntahiraja also reminded listeners of his role since 2015. At that time, he was a senior official in the Ministry of Interior, which worked closely with Burundi’s intelligence services against opposition figures, including arbitrary imprisonment, killings, and enforced disappearances.
He was also reportedly among those organizing hardline demonstrations insulting human rights defenders, journalists, opposition members, the UN, Rwanda, Belgium, and international human rights organizations.
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🔴 Belgium should not ignore what Ambassador Thérence Ntahiraja revealed
1. Belgian authorities currently do not fully understand the fears of those who say they are persecuted because of the 2015 protests. Ambassador Ntahiraja clearly showed that the issue is not over. The government’s hostility toward those protesters remains strong.
2. Belgium believes that people returned to Burundi would not face danger. However, hearing an ambassador openly discuss collecting addresses and monitoring movements of opposition members demonstrates the level of surveillance they face and the risks they may encounter if deported back to Burundi because of their activities or associations in Belgium.
3. The government of Gitega lead by Evariste Ndayishimiye publicly focuses on sanctioned individuals, but the people who disappear are often ordinary citizens. The post argues that these threats concern anyone suspected of exposing abuses committed by the CNDD-FDD government or opposing it. Belgium, according to the author, should protect asylum seekers belonging to those groups.
The author concludes that Ambassador Ntahiraja unintentionally helped asylum seekers by publicly confirming the dangers they describe. Belgian authorities are urged to pay close attention to the security of those whom Ntahiraja admits monitoring.
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🔴 A warning to Ambassador Ntahiraja
In the past, many Burundian officials who used similar threatening language against refugees eventually became refugees themselves.
The author argues that persecuting people who fled the country is pointless because political circumstances can change unexpectedly. The same people being insulted or targeted today could someday become necessary allies.
Finally, the author sarcastically thanks Ambassador Ntahiraja for publicly admitting things that had previously been difficult to prove.
European Parliament Human Rights Watch UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
