ISLAMABAD - As the government wants to tighten its noose around some international non-government organisations (INGOs), Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Monday said that under the newly framed parameters for development sector, no NGO would be allowed to work in the sensitive or security-designated areas of the country.
While talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, the minister said that no NGO, including Save the Children, would be allowed to work in security-designated areas of the country and some areas have already been given this status.
“All the NGOs operating in Pakistan will have to get themselves registered within six months under the new dispensation,” the minister announced. He said the NGOs, either international or local, would be given permission to operate in the country after proper scrutiny.
Nisar also pointed out that all the NGOs that have yet to get themselves registered under the new policy were being conditionally allowed to work for six months, including Save the Children. “Very categorically, I want to say that after six months, those not applying for registration or refused registration would not be allowed to work in the country,” he said.
About Save the Children (STC), an international aid group, the minister said that after negotiations of more than 10 days, its 13 offices were being allowed to operate in the country, excluding Fata and other security-designated areas. The INGO had a number of offices in Pakistan and the number is around 73, he said. Its foreign staff had already been denied visas, he added.
The minister said that an intelligence report was generated in 2012 about one of the projects of STC, but that government took no action. “We have already got this project closed. It had given application for fresh registration in 2014. We had received a report that some of its offices were working out of their mandate,” he said.
“The criticism heaped on me regarding my statement about STC is uncalled for as I had given a broader policy statement and said nothing against any NGO,” he said, adding he had not uttered a single word against it. Thousands of NGOs were working in Pakistan, but 38 to 40 percent were unregistered, he said and added there was neither data bank of these NGOs nor any system of audit or accountability.
Announcing that the prime minister had decided to transfer the work of regulations of NGOs from the Economic Affairs Division to the Ministry of Interior, Nisar said the government was working on this decision. “The government is introducing a policy to regulate the NGOs sector as the earlier laws regarding them were vague. “We want central law, simple and online registration and want transparent accountability system. We will complete work in six months and these NGOs will keep on working during this time period and new visas will not be issued,” he said.
The interior minister said, “Some NGOs are doing good work in Pakistan, but some are working against the national interests of the country. The government would either bring the latter back to their jurisdiction or these would have to face ban. “If someone works against the vital national interests, there will be no compromise on it,” he warned. He said the government would also ask the NGOs to evolve their own self-regulatory system.
“We closed several NGOs last year as they were not working under their charter,” he said. He revealed the committee, headed by Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, had given its recommendations on regulation of NGOs.