Charitable gains: Save the Children allowed to resume work

Office sealing orders to be in abeyance for now.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday overturned an earlier decision to bar international charity Save the Children from working in the country in the wake of sharp rebukes from the United States and Britain.

The charity itself seemed to be unaware of the development though.  “We are not officially aware of any such communication of reopening of our offices in Pakistan,” a media focal person for Save the Children said.

The offices of the charity were sealed on Thursday after the interior ministry accused it of being involved in anti-state activities.

Save the Children has previously been accused of involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency and Dr Shakeel Afridi in tracing the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

“The competent authority has desired that the action on letter (seeking closure of all offices and operations of Save the Children in Pakistan) may be held in abeyance till further orders,” reads the interior ministry’s order.

The letter was issued two hours after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said the operations of Save the Children were halted because, according to him, the INGO and some other organisations had been accused of working against Pakistan’s interests.

“We halted operations of nine international aid groups after receiving intelligence reports, sensing that they were apparently involved with hostile intelligence agencies,” said a senior official.

He said Save the Children could continue operating in the country until further orders. “The decision is our own as we are in the process of regulating all INGOs and NGOs. All international organisations have been directed to follow the new laws or close their offices.”

After receiving intelligence reports on suspect role of aid groups, the government had decided to streamline the operations of all non-profit organisations.

“Intelligence agencies shed light on the role of 31 of the 127 INGOs operating across the country,” said the official.

On Friday the interior minister had accused some INGOs of being backed by the US, Israel and India, announcing a crackdown against aid groups working against the state’s interests.

The source said all INGOs were asked to register themselves under the November 28, 2013 policy for regulation of organisations receiving foreign contributions. However, he added, only 19 organisations complied.

“After repeated warnings, the government did not receive any positive response from the aid groups, so it finally directed the management of nine INGOs to halt their operations.”

A senior office-bearer of an INGO in Islamabad said all interim memoranda of understanding between the Pakistani government and the international NGOs operating in the country were cancelled and the aid groups were asked to follow the new process designed by the Economic Affairs Division and the interior ministry.

Harris Khalique, an observer, said he saw neither a transparent process nor a positive attitude on the part of the government as regards resolving the issue.

“Every state regulates the functioning of private and public institutions through requisite legal and policy frameworks.” The process that the government adopts, however, must be transparent, he added.

A committee constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and headed by his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, is working on drafting new laws to set in place a mechanism for operations of all such organisations.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2015.