Unusual move: Govt orders Norwegian charity to halt operations

Claims that the interior ministry had recorded activities beyond its permitted scope

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has asked the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to wind up its operations in the country after deciding not to extend its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with it, finance ministry officials said on Tuesday.

Even though the NRC – an international aid agency – has gone into appeal against the government’s decision, the status remained the same after the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs maintained their stance on the issue, the officials said.

They pointed out that the interior ministry had recorded activities, which according to them were beyond the permitted working scope of the aid organisation.

A report about the organisation’s activities has been sent to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the officials said. A final decision will conveyed to the NRC after Dar’s approval.

Commenting on the issue, NRC’s spokesperson, Beenish Javed confirmed that the government had not extended the MoU. “We are right now in negotiations with the government and are hopeful,” she added.

The NRC, which has been operating in Pakistan since 2001, has already suspended its activities in the country.

The aid agency, known for providing assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide has been spending roughly $20 million per year -primarily in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The organisation was running education programmes, providing shelter, food and security to the refugees. Islamabad decided to regulate the work of international aid groups following the emergence of the news about Dr Shakil Afridi, who assisted Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The CIA’s coveted operation also damaged the campaign against polio in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2014.