ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed authorities concerned to streamline working of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) by keeping them in statutory limits and complete their fresh registration process in three months.
He issued these directions while chairing a meeting at the PM House held on Tuesday to discuss the issues relating to the working of INGOs in Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and other senior officers.
The meeting decided that all INGOs working in Pakistan would continue to function for six months within specified areas of operation allowed by the authorities concerned. It was further decided that in order to streamline their functioning, all the INGOs would complete the process of their fresh registration with the government of Pakistan within three months.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by the special assistant to PM on foreign affairs would provide guidelines, including rules, processes and draft legislation for streamlining the work of INGOs in Pakistan in future. The committee would also suggest a monitoring and oversight mechanism to ensure compliance with legislation/rules.
Agencies add: The move is part of a wider crackdown that has involved sealing the offices of Save the Children.
The decision will require the groups to undergo a fresh assessment by intelligence agencies before they are given the green light to remain in Pakistan, premier’s office said in a statement.
Pakistan has toughened its policies towards international aid groups in recent years, accusing them of covering for spying operations. Save the Children’s offices in Pakistan were sealed last week and its operations remained suspended Tuesday, despite media reports the government had reversed an order halting its work in the country.
Authorities accused the charity of “working against the country”, and threatened to expel more foreign aid groups for supposedly undermining Pakistan.
In 2012 the government expelled the expatriate staff of Save the Children, which has worked in Pakistan for over 35 years and employs 1,200 Pakistanis.
That move came after Pakistani intelligence services accused the charity of links to doctor Shakeel Afridi, whom the CIA allegedly used to carry out a fake vaccination programme as they searched for Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Save the Children has always vehemently denied any link to either Afridi or the CIA.
The United States on Friday warned Pakistan it was only hurting itself by its actions against aid groups.
Last week authorities said they would tighten oversight of local and international aid groups. Officials padlocked the offices of international aid organisation Save the Children but did not explain why.
Save the Children has operated in Pakistan, a nation of 190 million people plagued by poverty and militancy, for more than 30 years. But it has had strained relations with the government since 2011, when doctor Shakil Afridi was recruited to help the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden.
Last week’s decision to shut down Save the Children was suspended two days later after international donors, including the US government, raised concerns.