Government to decide fate of foreign charities soon – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government will decide within two weeks whether to allow more than a dozen international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to operate in Pakistan or not, sources have told ISLAMABAD news agency. Dawn.

A meeting of the special committee set up to probe the issue was chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi on Saturday.

According to sources, these INGOs include those organisations that have either not been given permission to operate in Pakistan and therefore need to renew their registration, or those whose MoUs – signed with the government – ​​have expired and have applied for renewal.

The meeting was attended by the additional secretaries of the departments of Home Affairs and Economic Affairs, the DG of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other officials.

Home Minister says thorough investigation of each applicant will be completed by mid-September

During the meeting, the INGOs’ requests against the rejection of their registration and for the extension of MOUs were discussed.

The Home Minister said a detailed assessment would be carried out of each application and relevant documents submitted by the organisations.

He said the assessment process would be completed within 15 days and all applicants would be informed about it.

He advised the INGOs to cooperate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and provide the relevant documents in a timely manner.

The policy

In 2015, the government established a policy framework to streamline and facilitate the work of international NGOs in the country.

Under the policy, which was presented by then Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, all international NGOs working or seeking to work in Pakistan had to register with the Ministry of Interior by signing an MoU.

Organizations that did not adhere to the guidelines were no longer allowed to operate in Pakistan.

INGOs were also not allowed to raise funds within or outside the country, nor were they allowed to support their local offices without government permission.

Months before announcing the policy, Khan revealed that more than 1,000 foreign intelligence operatives had come to Islamabad in recent years, disguised as representatives of international NGOs.

In December 2018, the PTI government expelled 18 international charities after their last request to remain in the country was rejected.

The majority of the disbanded aid organizations were based in the US, with the rest coming from the UK and the European Union.

According to a document prepared at the time by the top intelligence agency, some of these INGOs had enormous capital and “established access from the highest levels of government to the grassroots levels of trade union councils”.

The INGOs had “turned into a mafia,” the document said.

“Following an investigation of the INGOs by state organisations, dozens … were found working against the interests of Pakistan and involved in sensitive issues relating to security and religious affairs,” the document said.

Some of these INGOs were accused of contributing to a “hybrid war” against Pakistan and also “fostering sectarianism, promoting a foreign agenda, supporting enemy intelligence agencies, collecting illegal data and operating without any legal backing”.

The country’s top intelligence agency, ISI, also accused the INGOs of “acting as front offices of hostile intelligence agencies, attempting to influence the electoral system, smuggling weapons, illegally collecting data, concealing the presence of foreign workers, and supporting sub-nationalist and anti-state movements,” among other serious allegations.

Published in Dawn, September 1, 2024