INGOs under scrutiny

The debate surrounding the regulation of international non-governmental organisation has existed for years now. And if any neutrality was expected to occur under the newly-elected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PT) government, it has perhaps been put to rest after the interior ministry ordered 18 INGOs to cease their operations.

It has recently been reported that the ministry has not only ordered 18 INGOs – nine having associations with the United States, three with the United Kingdom and two with Holland – to wrap up their operations from the country within 60 days, but it also imposed restrictions on 72 NGOs. What is worse is that the interior ministry ordered the INGOs to cease operations without giving any explanation.

Since 2011 when a fake vaccination programme run by a foreign funded aid organisation played a key role in the capture of Osama bin Laden, INGOs has come under strict scrutiny. They have been accused of having anti-state and anti-Islam agendas. This is not to say that some of these have not had dubious or corrupt ways of workings, but the scrutiny they face comes at a higher price, often costing the very welfare they are set up to provide to marginalised communities in the country.

These INGOs as well as local NGOs work towards providing education, poverty alleviation and human rights, especially that of women, and also employ thousands of Pakistanis. Bridging the gaps that previous governments have continuously failed to do. It is no secret that millions of people of the country depend on the welfare programmes funded by these organisations.

While it seems unlikely that PTI-led government will relax the policy on INGOs set by the previous regime, the incumbent government has yet to formally announce its policy. It is thus advisable that if the state is committed to the people’s uplift it must rethink its current stance on INGOs and adopt measures to provide sustainable human security.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2018.

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