Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday allowed international aid agencies to function in the country for six months but made it mandatory for them to re-register within three months as part of the crackdown that led to the sealing of the offices of 'Save the Children'.
In a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a detailed discussion was held on the issues relating to global aid groups operating in the country and the government decided to allow the NGOs to operate for six months within specified areas of operation. However, the government said that all international aid groups will have to re-register themselves with authorities within three months.
"After discussions, the meeting decided that all INGOs presently working in Pakistan will continue to function for a period of six months within specified areas of operation allowed by the authorities concerned," the government said in a statement.
"It was further decided that in order to streamline the functioning of the INGOs in Pakistan, all INGOs will complete the process of their fresh registration with the Government of Pakistan within three months," it said.
The meeting directed the Inter-Ministerial Committee, headed by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, to formulate rules, processes and draft legislation for the working of international NGOs. However, it was not yet clear if 'Save the Children' will also be allowed to resume its work.
Save the Children's offices in Pakistan were sealed last week for alleged "anti-nation activities" and its operations remained suspended today, despite reports that the government had suspended an order halting its work in the country.
The Interior Minister yesterday created confusion by saying that the earlier direction to shut down 'Save the Children' was still in place.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had earlier said that non-government organisations working against the country's national interest will not be allowed to continue their work in Pakistan.
The US had expressed concern over Pakistan's crackdown on international charitable organisations. A senior official told PTI that the government is divided on the issue of INGOs as Khan and some other officials want immediate action against suspect organisations but some other ministers want to go slow and want proper legislation in place before targeting them.
The issue of global NGOs operating in the country surfaced in 2012 when a Pakistan intelligence report linked 'Save the Children' to fake vaccination programme used by theCIA to track down al-Qaeda chief bin Laden in Abbottabad.
The report had alleged that the NGO had linked to Pakistani doctor Shakeel Afridi, who the CIA allegedly used to carry out the fake polio vaccination programme.
The charity had denied link with CIA or Afridi but intelligence agents have been tracking the work of INGOs since then.
