INGO clampdown

HR Minister Shireen Mazari says the 18 groups asked to leave had spread disinformation

Every state has the right to protect itself with actions that it thinks appropriate. The Pakistan government ordered the other day 18 INGOs to leave the country after rejecting their final appeal to stay. Most of the banned INGOs are reportedly US-based and the rest are from Britain and the EU. Another 20 groups are at risk of being shown the door after authorities a few months back listed some 38 welfare groups for likely closure. The authorities have cited issues such as discrepancies in visa and registration documents for the action. On Dec 5, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said the 18 groups asked to leave had spread disinformation.

Certain quarters believe the crackdown on aid groups is the fallout from the CIA sting operation in which Pakistan doctor Shakil Afridi, posing as and international aid worker, used a fake hepatitis vaccination programme to try to get DNA samples from Osama Bin Laden’s family as a means of pinpointing his location. ISPR DG Major General Asif Ghafoor denies any link between the closures of INGOs and the Bin Laden operation saying they simply did not meet the criteria.

There is also a perception in Islamabad that some INGOs are also engaged in espionage activities.

The spokesman for Pakistan Humanitarian Foundation, an umbrella representing 15 of the charities, claimed that these charities alone helped 11 million poor Pakistanis and contribute more than $130 million in assistance.

Considering what independent observers say about welfare organisations’ work that what they have done in a few years the government would not have done in many years, we hope the government has taken the action keeping in view all aspects of the issue. It goes without saying turning away aids groups at a time when the state’s finances are in a perilous condition would mean adding to the difficulties of the vulnerable sections of the populace.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2018.

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