ISLAMABAD: Social and human-rights activists on Friday rejected the government’s assurance that it is operating an “open and transparent” policy for the registration of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs).
“The government has issued arbitrary orders of closure of international NGOs and there is no transparency in its registration process,” said Mohammad Tehseen, the director of South Asia Partnership Pakistan.
He challenged the government to press charges against NGOs that it alleges are involved in “anti-state activities.”
“Why doesn’t the government approach the courts against those NGOs involved in illegal activities?” he asked.
Tehseen, who has been campaigning for the right of NGOs to work freely in the country, claims that the crackdown on charity organizations is part of a government strategy to clamp down on dissent.
“The welfare organizations have been providing services to remote areas of Pakistan where the government has failed to initiate development projects,” he said. “Is the provision of clean drinking water, education and awareness of human rights to the people a crime?”
On Oct. 2 this year, the government rejected the registrations of 18 INGOs, giving them 60 days to wind up their operations and leave Pakistan. In June 2015, the then-Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed all INGOs in Pakistan to apply for full registeration with the ministry to continue working in the country. As a result, 141 organizations applied for registration, of which only 74 were approved.
While briefing a Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights last week, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Mohammad Siddique said that all INGOs were given the opportunity to explain their activities.
“All of the INGOs that have been directed to leave the country were given the opportunity of a personal hearing but they failed to satisfy the relevant officials about their workings,” he said.
Zaigham Khan, an analyst and human-rights activist, urged the government to satisfy the donors’ community about the banning of the INGOs and to improve the transparency of the process.
“The Pakistani authorities will have to face difficult questions at international forums such as the United Nations about its purported crackdown against NGOs and human-rights activists if it fails to bring transparency in its working,” he said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Thursday said that the government was pursuing an “open and transparent” INGO policy “which is underpinned by national laws, rules and regulations,” and that “the evidence is contrary to assertions.”
It added that all actions were in accordance with universally recognized principles and practice, as every state has the right to define laws, policies and regulatory frameworks, keeping in mind the national context, circumstances and needs.
Amid calls for transparency, Pakistan denies targeting international NGOs
Amid calls for transparency, Pakistan denies targeting international NGOs
- Activists urge government to ensure transparency in registration of NGOs
- Of 141 international NGOs, the government has so far allowed 74 to continue their operations
Pakistan anti-graft body says in talks with UAE to curb money laundering, illegal assets holding
- Many Pakistanis reportedly own luxury homes and commercial properties in the UAE despite not working or having any businesses in Gulf country
- A team of Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau will soon visit Dubai to sign an MoU with Emirati authorities for cooperation against corruption
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said on Tuesday it was in talks with its counterparts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to curb money laundering and illegal offshore asset holdings through mutual legal assistance.
Pakistan has a large diaspora in the UAE, who are a major source of foreign remittances to the South Asian country, while many Pakistanis reportedly own luxury homes and commercial properties despite not working or having any businesses in the Gulf nation.
In 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was presented a report, compiled by chartered accountancy firm A.F. Ferguson, that stated that Pakistani nationals owned properties and assets worth $150 billion in the UAE, in a case relating to illegal offshore assets.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, senior NAB officials said they have recently signed multiple mutual legal assistance agreements with foreign governments as they announced a record recovery of Rs6.213 trillion ($22 billion) ill-gotten money in 2025.
“A team of NAB officials will travel to Dubai in the coming weeks to sign an MoU with the UAE Accountability Authority (UAEAA) for joint cooperation against corruption,” NAB’s Director General (Operations) Amjad Majeed Aulakh said, adding that both sides have already held several rounds of talks to finalize the agreement.
Asked if Pakistan planned to crack down on individuals who purchased assets in the UAE using illicit funds, Aulakh said the anti-corruption watchdog was already tracing and repatriating assets stashed abroad via INTERPOL, the Global Operational Network of Law Enforcement Agencies (GlobE), and the Asset Recovery Interagency Network – Asia Pacific (ARIN-AP).
The Bureau’s total recoveries reached Rs11.524 trillion ($41 billion) over the past three years, with 2025 alone accounting for more than half of that amount, according to NAB Deputy Chairman Sohail Nasir. These recoveries included around 2.98 million acres of encroached state and forest land.
The watchdog is also strengthening its capacity to handle sophisticated financial crimes, including the use of cryptocurrency to evade monitoring, officials said.
“We are working on enhancing our capacity,” Aulakh said. “However, those using crypto for money laundering or corruption are eventually caught when they attempt to convert it into movable or immovable assets.”
Such investigations are increasingly supported by artificial intelligence-assisted tools, blockchain analysis and digital forensics, he added.
