KARACHI: Pakistan’s decision to tell 18 International NGOs, including ActionAid and Plan International, to shut their operations in the country has aroused mixed reactions.
Some criticized the decision as narrowing the space for freedom whereas others argue that Pakistan is a state in the geopolitical war that requires more details and credible information on real activities of these INGOs, which they have failed to provide.
Although Pakistan’s interior ministry hasn’t issued any official statement and the Minister of State for Interior, Shehryar Khan Afridi, didn’t respond to queries, both ActionAid and the Plan International confirmed they have been asked to stop operations.
“On Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, ActionAid Pakistan received a letter from the Pakistan Ministry of Interior informing the organization that its application for registration in Pakistan has been refused. It has been given 60 days to wind up its operations and activities in Pakistan,” said Sophia Har, communications manager of ActionAid. “The letter gives no reason for this decision.”
“ActionAid is working with partners in Pakistan to make sure programs and rights holders are still being supported while we seek legal advice on the notice to close down operations. We will ensure a smooth and phased close down of our work at the community level if we do have to close down,” Har added.
“Pakistan’s decision to shut down ActionAid and other International NGOs is a worrying escalation of recent attacks on civil society, academics and journalists,” Adriano Campolina, secretary general of ActionAid International, wrote in a handout issued on Thursday.
Plan International Pakistan, USA, which is at no.33 in the list of INGOs whose application is “under process,” also confirmed it has been asked to leave the country.
It is not the first time that ActionAid and Plan International, have been asked to shut operations. In December 2017, these two along with Marie Stopes and more than 20 other INGOs were asked to leave the country within 60 days.
“In 2017 ActionAid was told it needed to re-register for permission to work in Pakistan. In December 2017, its application and that of 27 other International NGOs were rejected without explanation. ActionAid appealed against this decision and put forward its case in March this year,” Har told.
FROM ECONOMIC DIVISION TO INTERIOR MINISTRY
In the wake of fake vaccination program used to track down Osama Bin Laden, the government of Nawaz Sharif had taken the registration of INGOs away from the Economic Affairs Division and transferred it to the Ministry of Interior.
“The Government of Pakistan accords importance to the role and contribution of INGOs in support of its socio-economic policies and programs,” reads the website of Pakistan’s interior ministry. “In 2015, the Government of Pakistan put together a policy framework to streamline and facilitate the work of INGOs in the country. As part of this framework, all INGOs present in Pakistan or desirous of operating in Pakistan are required to register themselves with the Ministry of Interior by signing an MoU.”
The ministry requires INGOs to register with the Ministry of Interior within 10 days or they will be stopped from operating in Pakistan. All INGOs are also required to have their annual financial audits done from any one of the approved audit firms listed on the official website of the State Bank of Pakistan.
The Ministry’s website shows it has received applications from 141 INGOs, of which applications of 72 are being processed. These include ActionAid at no.2 and Plan International at no.33 on the list. The list of approved INGOs is 66 and 63 have signed MOUs with interior ministry.
According to a recent report by The Express Tribune, quoting an unnamed top official of the Ministry of Interior, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, despite diplomatic pressure from the European countries, is unlikely to relax the registration process for iNGOs.
MIXED REACTION
Kaiser Bengali, a Karachi based economist and development expert, said these organizations working in Pakistan for the last three decades had never been controversial. “Since they don’t only work to build schools or are involved in other community services, their advocacy is seen suspiciously. The space for freedom of speech and freedom for civil society in Pakistan is narrowing with each passing day.”
Karamat Ali, executive director of the advocacy organization Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (Piler), agreed with Bengali. “Since the closure of INGOs in the past has already given the country a bad name, such decisions should be made with clarity and legal justification,” Ali said. “If they have violated a law or don’t fulfil requirements it should be clearly stated.”
Bengali said in cases where there was hardly any legal justification no clear reasons were being offered. “These INGOs are being viewed negatively for their advocacy work, a reason which alone doesn’t provide justification.” Ali said that besides damaging Pakistan's image the step would also create feelings of uncertainty among the donors who funded these and other INGOs for their work inside Pakistan.
However, Khalid Muhammad, director general of CommandEleven, a national security-focused think tank in Islamabad, defended the decision: “While we believe that some INGOs do operate in the best interests of Pakistan and its citizens, we can’t apply that to all the iNGOs operating across the country.
“Many are offering ‘campaigns’ in areas that are considered security-sensitive, putting LEAs & security services under pressure to protect them from domestic groups that don’t share their opinions,” Muhammad said. “Additionally, some of these groups are being used by foreign intelligence to gather demographics and information about areas that foreigners can’t easily enter or interact in.”
“Realistically, Pakistan is at a state in the geopolitical war so that we require more details and more credible information on the real activities of these INGOs that maintain massive budgets and ‘operations’ throughout Pakistan. There are times when Pakistan should consider a FARA type legislation to be able to accomplish this mammoth task without hearing the false cries of restrictions on social welfare activities,” he concluded.
Mixed reaction as Pakistan asks 18 iNGOs to pack up
Mixed reaction as Pakistan asks 18 iNGOs to pack up
- On Wednesday, October 3, 2018, ActionAid Pakistan received a letter from the Pakistan Ministry of Interior informing the organization that its application for registration in Pakistan has been refused
- “Many of INGOs are offering ‘campaigns’ in areas that are considered security sensitive,” says Khalid Muhammad, head of an Islamabad-based think tank
About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
- A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September
- Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care
TEXAS, USA: Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.
Chief US District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
